Glass Shards
by cookiesgal24
Summary: "A glass shard was lodged into my right arm. All I have is a scar from surgery. My parents and brother paid the ultimate price," Fate has a way of turning a disaster into one of the most important events of your life. Scott Tracy and Naomi Winchester know this. As they grow up, the two friends know they have a shoulder to cry on and a person in their corner for back up. AU.
1. Chapter 1

Naomi and Stephen Winchester were sleeping. Their parents had their eyes on the road. The family of four were heading home from a day out in Hamilton. Firstly for Stephen's annual check-up at the hospital and secondly for new clothes and birthday gifts for both the kids. They even had a rare treat of Pizza for dinner. It was the perfect day out in the eyes of the three year old boy and five year old girl in the back seat. But what was one of the best days would soon turn into a terrible tragedy.

A group of party going kids from Waikato University had gotten drunk at a mate's house. Although New Zealand had laws about drunk drivers, the thought had long been forgotten. Even if they had remembered, no one (sober, drunk or otherwise) would have been able to take the students home. No one lived on or any near the campus. So the drunk kids got into their car and drove. It had been a miracle that they had gotten to the outskirts of Hamilton without causing an accident. Of course, their luck ran out when they came across a red Nissan Qashqai ST model. Inside that car was four people. Two adults, two children. As they drew closer to the red car, the drunken driver started swerving, tempting Fate. Fate decided that it was high time their luck ran out. The driver of the Nissan realised too late what was going on and the two cars collided.

It took rescue crews one long hours to get the seven civilians out of the wrecked cars. The driver and passenger of the Nissan were declared dead on impact while the three year old boy in the back seat had died from a broken neck. He was the last body to be recovered. The first was the boy's five year old sister. She had been the only person responding when the crew had first arrived. Like her younger brother, the girl suffered lot of cuts. The cut that worried paramedics was one on the upper part on her right arm. A piece of glass was lodged in it and it was bleeding. They just had to hope that the girl could pull through and survive. The three drunken university students had all been knocked unconscious. The driver had a broken leg while the passenger had a broken wrist, a sprained ankle and a badly bruised shoulder. The person in the back seat was in need of surgery. He later died on the surgical table. It seemed his wounds to his stomach and lower body was too much for the young man. The five year old girl had also been rushed to surgery. With her parents dead and no legal adult to consent the surgery, her brother's doctor (who recognized the girl from the session he had with her brother earlier) gave it the green light, pulling up her medical files. The girl had no allergies and was an asthmatic. While in surgery he contacted the emergency contact listed on file. Her father's brother and sister-in-law lived in Cambridge and they were soon there. From there living arrangements could be made.

It was 5am in Cimarron, Kansas and Dean Turner was sleeping. Yes, he knew that he was expected at work in under three hours. Yes, he knew that the FBI wanted him on a very important case, one he would have to be prepared for. But he wanted his sleep. He wanted to get a full night's sleep. The fresher his eyes were on the case, the better chances of him closing it. And then the phone rang. No one from the FBI would ring this early unless it was extremely important. Dean's friends were in India studying the elephants and had called him earlier. It couldn't be them again. The only other person Dean's 5am brain could think of was his older sister, Ruth. While the two were close as kids, the two siblings had drifted apart. In both the metaphorical and literal sense. After meeting Maurice Winchester and going on a few dates while she was studying in New Zealand, Ruth had decided to stay in New Zealand. The couple married and had two kids; Stephen and Naomi. Dean loved his niece and nephew. He finally picked up the phone.

"Dean Turner,"

"Hello Dean, I'm Owen Winchester, Maurice's older brother. There's been an accident concerning Ruth, Maurice and the kids,"

"Are they all right?" Dean asked. His heart was going faster and faster.

"Ruth and Maurice were killed from impact and Stephen died due to a broken neck but Naomi managed to survive. She's in surgery at the moment. Some glass got lodged in her arm," Owen explained "We've been told that Maurice and Ruth put in their will that if anything happened to them and a guardian was required because both or one of the kids were under aged, they were to go into your custody,"

"That's right. I'm catching the next flight to New Zealand if I can," Dean told Owen "Please stay with Naomi,"

"Okay Dean. We'll see you soon," Both males disconnected the call. Dean brought up the number for his office. He hit call.

"Hello Mandy, This is Agent Dean Turner, I need to talk to Special Agent Jackson," The call was directed to Dean's boss.

"Dean, what a surprise, we weren't expecting you for another three hours," Special Agent Jackson spoke.

"Hello Chris. This isn't about the case you're about to hand to me. I can't take that case. I've just had a call from my sister's brother-in-law that she and her family were in an accident. My sister, her husband and three year old son have died and I have been asked by Ruth and Maurice years ago to take in their other child. I am taking the next month off – holiday hours. Then I ease back into work with just plain desk work until school starts and maybe I'll be able to do more of the grottier field work," Dean told his boss "I need to be there for her,"

"Okay. I'm sorry for your loss,"

"Thanks, I'll see you next month," Dean ended the call. He put on some causal clothes, stuffed some clothing and toiletries into a duffel bag and headed to his car.

Scott Tracy awake to the sound of a car motor. He turned to the digital alarm clock on his bedside table. It read 5:28am. It was too early for the next door neighbour to be up. The man was always gone by 7:30 and never left before 7:15. Maybe he just had a very important thing to get too Scott though as he drifted back to sleep.

"Is she going to be okay?" Dean asked the doctor who had green lighted the surgery on his niece.

"She'll make it Mr Turner. Be thankful the rescue crews got her out when they did. We could have been looking at the fifth corpse instead," Doctor Heron replied "The doctors will be able to tell once she wakes up," Dean nodded. An older lady waked up to the two males talking about the young girl in recovery.

"Excuse me, Mr Turner, I'm Linette Wade. I'm from New Zealand child services. We have some paper work for you to fill out if you are to take Naomi back home with you. I also believe the attorney holding your sister's and her husband's wills is arriving shortly to discuss what happens next,"

"Thank Dr Heron for what you've done for my family over the years,"

"It's my job Mr Turner. If I don't see you or Naomi before you leave, I wish you well," The two men shake hands and Dean followed Linette to the private office that had been assigned to her.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the first week of August when Scott Tracy saw his next door neighbour's car pull up into his drive way. Unlike other times when Scott had seen the silver car come home, this time it had a trailer on the back. He couldn't tell what was in it with the tarpaulin covering the steel cage. He refocused on his little brothers John and Virgil.

Naomi undid her seat belt and got out of the car seat her uncle had provided.

"Welcome to my house Naomi," Uncle Dean said "And yours now," Naomi nodded. She understood that she had to live her uncle but she didn't understand why she had to move to America. She was perfectly fine living in New Zealand. There she had friends and her school was a good one. Now she would have to make new friends and go to a new school.

"You want to pick your room?" Uncle Dean asked. Once more she nodded and followed her uncle into the house. They went up the stairs. Along the wooden hallway, there were six doors.

"This is my room Naomi," Uncle Dean explained "If the door is closed, please knock," They continued walking.

"That door is for the shower and bathroom. There's a lock. It will come in handy especially when you get older," Naomi sent a confused look at her uncle. Uncle Dean just smiled and laughed a little. The two relatives moved on.

"That's the upstairs toilet. It also has a lock," Dean stopped outside two doors "And these are the two rooms you get to choose from,"

"That one," Naomi said automatically, pointing to the one on the left.

"Okay then," Uncle Dean said surprised at his niece's quick reaction "Why don't you go in and I'll grab your suitcases," Naomi did as she was told and went to explore her new room.

Dean unloaded the three suitcases containing his niece's clothes, toys and other personal positions that could fit in the suitcases from the trailer. Everything else was coming by boat before being shipped to his home town. He put the last suitcase on the ground and stood up. He stretched. That plane had been too crowded for his liking and the guy in front of him had put his seat back, meaning Dean couldn't stretch his legs. He looked over into the garden of his next door neighbours. He knew that the married couple had three sons. He was pretty sure that the oldest was the same age as Naomi.

"Hello Dean," A friendly voice snapped Dean's thoughts in half. He blinked to focus his vision and saw the blue eyed, blond haired Lucy Tracy.

"Hello Lucy," He said, smiling.

"You enjoy your holiday?" She asked, looking at the suitcases.

"These aren't mine. They're my niece's. She's moving with me. Her parents died a few weeks ago and I was appointed guardian," Dean explained.

"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss. How old is she?"

"She turned six last week. Didn't want anything to do with her birthday this year,"

"She'll be in the same grade as Scott then. I hope she settles in quickly," A crying sound was heard from the porch of the house.

"I better go settle whatever argument John and Scott have started," Lucy said, smiling. She moved away from the fence between the two gardens.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Dean muttered to himself.

Scott soon started to notice the person in the room facing his. The young girl was nearly always sitting by the window, looking out. Sometimes she had a book with her and other times a snack but more often than not she looked into the sky; blue, grey and black. When she did get out of her room, it was with Scott's next door neighbour. Normally they would go walking at night and come back eating ice cream or carrying bags of shopping. Scott did notice that one day the girl was helping the older man plant something in the ground near the fence. He didn't know who she was, but was betting that he would see her at school when it started up in over a month's time.

Naomi noticed the boy whose bedroom was visible from her window. She had seen him watching her a few times. Sometimes a smaller blond haired boy would come into the room where the black haired boy slept. They were brothers and Naomi felt a sharp pain in her heart. She had had a little brother once. And he was now with the angels along with her mum and dad. Sometimes she saw the two boys outside with their mother and a baby. Their father went to work a lot but whenever he was home the man spent it with his three children and wife. It was clear how much he loved them. The oldest boy would always keep a close eye on his younger brothers. Naomi was very scared to go talk to him at this point in time but she knew that if she ever went to school, she was sure she would find out more about the black haired boy next door.


	3. Chapter 3

Naomi Winchester was worried. Had she made the wrong choice by asking Uncle Dean to enrol her at the local school? Would she be teased by the other students because her parents were dead? Or would she end up a loner, walking around the school grounds during interval and lunch? Here she was alone in her class room. Her new teacher, Miss Chard, had gone to grab a cup of coffee, leaving her to her own devices. With nothing else to do Naomi reviewed her day so far. Her uncle had dropped her off at 8 o'clock. He was wearing a suit and tie which was much different to the t-shirts and shorts she had seen him earlier. He dropped her off at the front gates, kissed her forehead, whispered some word of encouragement and told her that, traffic allowing, he would be there to pick her up after school. And if he wasn't, he had made arrangements for their next door neighbour, Lucy Tracy, to sign her out and take her home. She had walked through the front gates of the school and entered the main building. Unlike other children in the area, Naomi did not know which teacher she had. That meant she was to go to the office. The office ladies seemed nice enough. One had explained some of the school rules while the other looked up which teacher had the young girl. A women with short blond hair walked through the office doors and saw the young girl. She had smiled and Naomi, smiled weakly back.

"Naomi," The office lady got her attention and told her which teacher she had. The women who had walked through the doors turned out to be her teacher and together they had walked to the classroom.

The sound of chattering voices brought Naomi back to reality. This time Miss Chard walked in with the women who lived next door and the blacked haired boy. Her uncle had introduced the two females to each other so Naomi knew who to look out for if Uncle Dean was ever late. In Lucy Tracy's arms was the small baby while the blond haired, blue eyed brother held hands with the black haired one. He was protecting his brother. Something that Naomi knew she would never get to do again. Lucy whispered something in her oldest son's ear. And now he was walking towards her…

Scott Tracy was annoyed. He never did like school and now John, at the age of three, wanted to go along with him. While his younger brother was smarter than your average three year old, John didn't realise that he was too young to even start kindergarten yet. His 5th birthday was over a year away. Because of this, John had been coming to him with questions of what do I need to bring with me? What should I have for lunch? It was driving Scott up the wall. How could anyone like school? By the time his mum had gotten her three boys feed and dressed, it was time to head out. Scott had heard his neighbour's car leave ten minutes ago. Soon he was in the car with his mum and little brothers, getting driven to school.

Scott ignored the conversation his teacher and mum were having and concentrated on keeping John in line. While he loved being a big brother, hand holding was something six year olds weren't meant to do. He entered the classroom and saw the girl from next door sitting at a desk. She was the only person in the room. That meant if his mum and brothers left, he would be stuck with only his teacher and the girl for company. He looked up at his mother. She smiled and bent down to her son and whispered:

"Girls don't bite Scottie. Especially this one. Be nice, it's her first day in an American School," Scott nodded and started his way other to the girl. Once he reached the desk he took off his blue backpack and sat down on the seat. The two six year olds gave each other wary looks. Who was going to make the first move?

"Hi," Scott spoke up "I'm Scott Tracy,"

"Naomi Winchester. Glad to finally know the name of the guy who's been watching me," The girl said. Scott was taken aback. She had noticed him?

"Yes I noticed you. Just because I look like I'm looking at the sky doesn't mean I'm always looking at the sky," There was a short silence.

"You sound weird," Scott said

"You sound weirder,"

"Mum said this was your first day in an American School,"

"It is. I've lived in New Zealand where I was very happy and had friends until two months ago,"

"Well maybe you would like to be my friend?"

"We'll see," The young six year olds' friend banter kept going and both Miss Chard and Lucy Tracy took notice.

"Those two will be firm friends by the end of the year," Miss Chard told Lucy.

"I hope you're right. Naomi's very new to America still. She'll need some friends. I assume you've been told of her situation," Miss Chard nodded.

"Scott will be just what she needs. She has lost her family and will need a new anchor. Scott is already getting to her," The two six year olds were laughing "And with your other sons, Naomi will feel right at home in no time," Lucy just hoped Miss Chard was right and her Scott could stop Naomi from going over an edge that no one wants their child to go over.

A month later, Scott slid into his seat next to his best friend. Naomi smiled her bright smile that was nearly always directed at him.

"Got any plans for the weekend Scott?" She asked. Her uncle had gotten the weekend off and had promised to take the six year old anywhere she wanted with a friend.

"Well Mum has organised a barbeque for tonight and wanted me to invite you and Mr Turner to it. But otherwise no plans on my watch," Scott replied "You?"

"Well my uncle and I are going to a barbeque tonight with our friends and tomorrow he's going to take me wherever I want to go to within reason along with a friend. I know that there's an air show on tomorrow and the film I want to go to see comes out tomorrow so I was wondering if you'd like to come with us," Scott laughed. His best friend hated air shows and he didn't really want to watch the movie she wanted to watch. She was bribing him by giving him a chance to see some fighter jets.

"I'll ask Mum and Dad tonight," Scott said. He knew they would say yes but it was always good to check.

Naomi put sauce diagonally on her bread before putting her sausage onto it. She grabbed the two corners not covered by sausage and brought the food to her mouth. Her best friend, Scott, had done his bread and sausage differently. Americans, she thought, always doing weird things. She took a bite and her taste buds welcomed the taste of Tomato Sauce, bread and sausage.

Scott did a horizontal strip of sauce on his bread. He put his sausage along the strip before grabbing both ends on the bread. He took a bite of sausage and thought about his plans for the weekend. Both of his parents had said yes and Mr Turner had agreed to Naomi's plan. That covered Saturday and on Sundays, the Tracy always had a picnic in the park before spending the rest of the day together. He looked over to his best friend. She had arranged her sausage diagonally.

"You're weird," Scott muttered.

"You're weirder," Naomi muttered back. John looked at the two friends weirdly. Noticing the younger Tracy's look, Naomi and Scott started laughing.

Lucy, Jeff and Dean looked over to their kids.

"I guess Miss Chard was right," Lucy told her husband and neighbour "Scott and Naomi have a very firm friendship,"

"That's true," Dean agreed "Naomi's willing to go to an air show just so she can bring Scott to see that movie,"

"This has been a mutual benefit for both kids," Jeff said "My family hasn't had a baby girl in five generations and Scott's always wanted a sister while Naomi, who could have easily closed herself down after what happened, just needed a friend to be there for her,"

"Are you sure you're in the right profession Jeff?" Dean asked, laughing "You would have made a great profiler,"

"Too much murder for my liking," The three children put their plates on the table before running off to kick a ball around. Virgil rolled over in the cot he had been placed in.

"Here's to the sister Scott always wanted and the friend Naomi needed," Lucy said, raising her glass of water. Jeff and Dean raised their glasses in agreement.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the night before Christmas. The two families who lived next to each other were getting ready for Christmas…

For the Tracy's, a real pine tree stood in the corner of the house. Under it were an array of presents. Some were for Scott, John and Virgil while the others were for Lucy and Jeff. Five stockings were hung from the mantle over the fire place. Jeff's was black with a silver felt moon sown on. Lucy's was white with a beautiful red rose on it. Scott's had two grey jets flying in the blue sky while John's had white stars on an orange background. Virgil's was just green. Lucy would sow on whatever Virgil wanted on his stocking when he turned three. Each had stocking had their respective owner's names as well. By the morning these stockings would be filled with chocolate, Christmas crackers and other little nick knacks. Lucy and Jeff had sent Scott and John up to their rooms an hour ago after they had drained some Christmas hot chocolate. Baby Virgil was placed into his crib and was sleeping soundly. To keep up the appearance of Santa being "real" Jeff had dressed up in a Santa suit in case his boys decided to sneak down stairs to see if they could see Santa.

Scott and John watched from the stairs. Their mum and dad had gone to bed 30 minutes earlier. This year they were going to see Santa. And they did. The jolly man in red was placing presents under the tree and into their stockings. He ate the cookies and the milk that the boys had left out.

"Can we go back to bed now Scotty?" John asked, yawning "We saw Santa,"

"Of course we can Johnny," Scott and John got up from their hiding spot and went back to bed. Little did they know, Jeff was smiling as he heard the boys "whispers" This was what Christmas was for – family.

Naomi had her blanket pulled around her. She snuggled into her uncle as they watched Beauty and the Beast. Her uncle, her primary guardian for the past five months, loved her like she was his own child; comforting her after she had a nightmare of the car crash, watching her favourite Disney movie over and over again and having cuddles.

"Uncle Dean?" Naomi asked as Belle and the Beast were dancing "Will Santa know where I am now that I've moved?"

"Did you write a letter to Santa?" Naomi nodded "Well, he'll defiantly knows. He keeps track of every child and because you sent him a letter, Santa has your new address,"

"So there'll be present from Santa under our tree tomorrow?"

"Of course there will be. Along with presents from me, presents from you and a present from Scott," Uncle Dean told her. Naomi snuggled into Dean more and together they focused back on the movie.

Dean checked his watch. It had been 30 minutes since he had put his sleeping niece to sleep. He tip toed down the stairs with the three presents from "Santa" and Scott. His niece didn't know that Scott had approached him to get his advice on what to get for Naomi. He knew what was in the blue and purple Christmas wrapping. His lounge, once holding a simple one seater couch and a TV with an X-Box plugged in, was decorated with tinsel. His one seater had been moved to make room for a two seater and a three seater. His X-Box and X-Box games were kept under lock and key. Most of the games he played were mature, adult ones. He did NOT want his niece playing those. Or even baring witness to them being played. Instead the cabinet under the TV had Naomi's two favourite Disney movies (Hercules and Beauty and the Beast) along with other child friendly movies. In the corner was the artificial tree that he had brought earlier in the month. Under it was three presents. Two for Naomi and one for himself. He gently placed the Christmas presents under the tree and arranged them so it looked like Santa had come and had delivered the present from Scott as well as the ones from himself. On the coffee table were the store brought cookies and milk for Santa. Dean ate five of the biscuits, storing the rest for later, and drank the milk. He smiled to himself, he could get used to playing Santa. He looked out the window and saw flakes of white floating down from the sky. It had snowed right on time for a white Christmas. Naomi was going to be so delighted.

Scott and John were in their parent's room at 6am. Lucy and Jeff opened their eyes to see their black haired, brown eyed and blond and blue eyed sons.

"Merry Christmas!" The two boys yelled in excitement. And Virgil started crying.

"You've got Scott and John, I'll take Virgil," Lucy said, getting out of bed. Jeff followed his wife's order, err, instructions and took their two eldest down stairs.

"We saw Santa last night Daddy!" John told his father "He put presents under the tree and ate the cookies we left out," Jeff smiled at the big smiles plastered over his son's faces.

"We'll wait for your mother and Virgil to come down to open the presents, but in the meantime why don't we look in our stockings?" He handed his sons their stockings as they were too short to reach them on their own devices. He then took his own down and sat with his sons. On the count of three, the three males tipped out the contents of the stockings onto the floor. Jeff's had a new tie (blue) and two $20 bills. Scott had a die cast plane while John's had a small puzzle. Each stocking contained chocolate. Lucy and Virgil joined them and the presents were opened. Soon the Tracy family's living room was covered in coloured wrapping paper. No one noticed the snow outside.

"Wake up Naomi," Dean cooed to his niece "There's snow outside," and at that, Naomi woke up.

"There's snow!?" She asked, jumping out of bed. She looked out her window and sure enough, the white powdery stuff was on the ground.

"Can we go outside Uncle Dean?"

"Don't you want to open your presents?" The six year old pondered the thought.

"Present, then snow time?"

"Okay then," Dean said as the two left Naomi's room.

There was a total of eight presents under the tree. Not that it mattered to Naomi and Dean. Naomi was a survivor of a car crash and Dean could have been killed on many of his cases for the FBI. They were happy that they were around to celebrate another Christmas.

"Open this one first," Dean said, handing Naomi a rectangular present. Naomi took it and tore open the wrapping. It was a photo of her, Scott and John a month after school had started.

"I asked Mr Tracy if he could get the original picture enlarged for me. I thought you might like it,"

"I love it Uncle Dean!" Naomi hugged her uncle "It's perfect," For the next hour the relatives opened their presents and had fun.

"Merry Christmas Naomi!" Scott called from the other side of the fence.

"Merry Christmas Scott. And you too John!" Naomi told the two Tracy brothers "Thanks for your present by the way. I love it,"

"Thank you for yours. How did you know that's what I wanted?"

"I read your letter to Santa remember?" Scott laughed.

"Thank you for the chocolate Naomi," John said

"No problem John,"

"I see you got your Christmas wish," Scott told his best friend "It's a white Christmas,"

"What to build a snowman at my place?" John and Scott nodded and ran to their front gate. Soon the three kids were building a snowman in the Turner/Winchester front yard. Dean snapped a photo of Naomi. He'd be sending his sister's in-laws the photo for Christmas along with the others he had taken over the year. They deserved to know what Naomi was doing as much as he did when his sister was alive.


	5. Chapter 5

Scott watched as his best friend sat on her front porch, reading a book. Reading had easily become Naomi's hobby over the past year. But now, Naomi's usually smiley face was void of any happiness. Scott knew that it had almost been a year since Naomi had come to live in Cimarron with her uncle. Meaning it had to be close to the date when her parents and brother died. Scott didn't know if he should talk to her or just let her be.

"Come on Scotty," John complained. Scott smiled at his little brother before joining his brother in the pool.

Naomi sat on her front porch in the swinging chair. In her lap was a photo album. The pictures were not from her time in America, rather they were taken in New Zealand. There were pictures of her and her little brother eating ice cream, her parents with Stephen at a family wedding, herself and her mum on mother's day and pictures of her helping her dad shift the sheep. Each photo held something that Naomi hadn't experienced in a whole year. The love of a mother, job experience with a father and the loving, protectiveness of a sibling. Of course Mrs Tracy had become the female figure in Naomi's life and Scott and John were her siblings in everything but blood. But it just didn't feel the same. Nothing ever would. She sighed. All Naomi wanted now was for her family to be back. For her little brother to drive her up the wall when he was bored. For her mother to tell her to clean her room. For her father to say how proud he was of his little girl as she first finished primary school, then intermediate before graduating from the local college and maybe even university.

"Hey garden gnome," Uncle Dean said, passing Naomi a glass of juice.

"Don't call me garden gnome. Not today,"

"Okay. You want to talk about it?"

"All I want is to have my family back. I want to be able to graduate from high school and see them waving and cheering. I want them to be there when I become world famous. Is that too much to ask for?"

"This may seem very harsh Naomi, but you need to hear it," Uncle Dean said "If your parents and brother hadn't died, what would be your chances of living here in Cimarron? One of the reasons your mother stayed in New Zealand when she married your dad was because she never liked it here. And if you did end up moving to America, I very much doubt you would have ended up here. And if you did move here. It's highly unlikely that you and Scott would be friends. So yes, you lost your family but you gained so much more. You told me last Christmas that you had never seen snow so you had hoped you would get a white Christmas. And it did snow. I saw you, Scott and John build that snowman. I saw how happy you were. I've also seen you be happy with Scott. I know you would have never gone to that air show if Scott hadn't been there,"

"I just miss them so much Uncle Dean," Tears started rolling down the face of the almost seven year old. Uncle Dean pulled her into a hug.

"I know. I miss them too,"


	6. Chapter 6

It had been eight ½ months since Lucy Tracy had announced that she was once more pregnant. Her eight year old son, Scott was excited. He was going to be a big brother again. His best friend, Naomi, was equally excited. Since the girl had moved into the house next door nearly three years earlier, she was family in all but blood. While John was the brother closest in age to her actual brother, Naomi had taken to caring for John and Virgil right away. 6 year old John wasn't so sure about the new baby. He was old enough to remember how much trouble Virgil was when he was a new born. Always crying at obscure times in the morning, hitting his toy xylophone in no order and always, always, getting in the road of games him, Scott and Naomi would play outside. But John knew that he loved Virgil no matter his annoying qualities. And that he would love the new baby as much as his other brothers. 3 year old Virgil was excited. He would show Scott and John what he had learnt from them. That he was worthy of the title of Big Brother just they were. Jeff was happy. Maybe, just maybe, he would have a daughter. Every father needed a little girl to spoil. And then some day, walk down the aisle with her at her wedding. But Jeff knew that he would love another son just as much as a daughter.

Two weeks before the due date, Lucy was looking after her three sons and Naomi. Jeff was in a meeting and Dean was doing whatever Special Agents did. The winter snow was long gone and spring was still a few weeks away. Yet it was surprising warm. Scott and Naomi were playing trivial pursuit (the kid's edition) with John while Virgil was colouring in.

"Who defeated Medusa?" Scott asked

"Perseus," Naomi replied very quickly. John glared at her. Naomi added another token to her wheel.

"Your turn John," She said, pushing the spinning wheel to the six year old. John flicked the spinner and it landed on a six. He moved his player six places forward. He had landed on a geography question. He sighed. He wasn't as good at this topic as his sibling and friend were.

"What's the capital of New Zealand?" John didn't know the answer. He could tell you how far the sun was from the earth but the capital of a country far away? He didn't have a clue. So he went through all the cities he knew where in New Zealand. He only knew two. One wasn't even a city! Rather it was a small rural town which Naomi had been brought up in. So the answer must be

"Auckland," He exclaimed.

"Wellington," Naomi replied "Though I do think the capital was once in Auckland," Virgil, who wanted a drink of water, had come over to the table.

"Did Johnny get it wrong?"

"Yeah Virgie. John did get it wrong," Scott said

"And he's not the first Tracy to do so. Scott and I argued over this for three hours," Naomi said "Word from one of the wise. Auckland maybe the biggest city in New Zealand but Wellington is the capital,"

"Scott!" The Tracy mother yelled. She sounded distressed. The three Tracy's and the Winchester rushed from the kitchen table to the guest room where Lucy was meant to be resting. The four skidded to a halt at the door way. Lucy was sitting on the edge, clutching her stomach. Lucy looked up and saw her three babies and the little angel from next door.

"Call an ambulance. The baby is coming," Since the eighth month of Lucy's pregnancy with her fourth child, Jeff had made sure that there was a phone in the guest room. Scott rushed to the drawers and took the phone off its set. He dialled 911.

"Hello, what's your emergency?"

"Um hi, my mum's giving birth right now. Our dad is at work and we have no way to get to the hospital," Lucy yelled in pain "Please hurry," Scott gave the details to the lady on the other end of the phone while Naomi organised his little brothers.

"John I want you to pack a bag for you and Virgil. I'll organise something for Scott," John nodded, taking his brother's hand. The three children ran up the stairs. John went into Virgil's room while Naomi went into Scott's room. She grabbed his school backpack and tipped out its contents. She opened his cupboard and gathered a spare shirt, socks and jeans. She picked up his favourite pair of shoes. She stuffed them into the bag and was about to zip it up when she noticed the toy fighter plane she had gotten him for Christmas two years ago. On instinct she grabbed it and placed it on top. A bored Scott was a very bad thing. She zipped the bag up and left the room.

"Have you got something for you and Virgil, John?" She yelled. The appearance of Virgil and John from John's room answered her question. Once more they ran down the stairs and back to the room where Scott and Lucy were.

"Naomi?" Scott asked "Can you call Dad on the cell phone? It should be in the top draw in dresser in the lounge," Naomi nodded, leaving Scott's back pack in the room. She knew what he meant. In case something was to happen, Jeff had had the foresight to leave a second phone in the house. You never knew when the need of the second phone line could save a life. She opened the draw and took the black brick from its hiding spot. She opened it up and turned it on. She brought up the contacts and chose the number for Mr Tracy's office. The dial tone rang. Someone answered.

"Annabeth Peterson, Mr Tracy's office,"

"Hi Miss Peterson, its Naomi Winchester, Mr Tracy's neighbour. Could you tell Mr Tracy that Mrs Tracy's is having her baby right now?"

"Of course Naomi. Have you rung the ambulance?"

"Scott's talking to them now,"

"And you and the boys have a bag in case you need to go to hospital with Mrs Tracy?"

"The boys do but I don't think I'll have time to grab something for myself,"

"Okay, as long as you lot are prepared, Take the cell phone with you, Mr Tracy may want updates. And don't forget to call your uncle,"

"Thanks Miss Peterson. I'll see you around," Both parties hung up their call as the ambulance arrived at the Tracy residence. There was a knock at the door. Naomi went to answer it.

"Hello," She said "Mrs Tracy's in the guest room," Containing the need to run towards her best friend, Naomi lead the medic to the room where Lucy was.

"Thank you…"

"Naomi," The medic sat beside Mrs Tracy on the bed.

"Hi Mrs Tracy, my name is Sam and I'll be taking care of you until we get you to the hospital. Now I'm going to help you get up and then walk to the ambulance outside," The medic said. Lucy nodded in agreement. With the help of Sam, Mrs Tracy was able to make it to the front gate. Scott and Naomi locked both the front and back doors before joining Scott's siblings at the ambulance.

"Who's the eldest?" Sam asked. Scott and Naomi put up their hands.

"We're eight. Johnny's six and little Virgie is three," Scott said.

"Where's your father?"

"At a business meeting," John said "It's the last one before he was going to take parental leave,"

"My Uncle Dean's at work in the city. Mrs Tracy was looking after me," Naomi told Sam "I haven't called him yet but Mrs Tracy can sign me out of School and looks after me all the time,"

"Hey Adam!" Sam called to the driver "We have four minors all under the age of ten. Three are children of the patient and the other is in the care of the patient until her uncle gets here,"

"We'll have to take them with us," Adam replied "Send the youngest up front," Scott, hearing the driver's words took Virgil's hand and lead him around to the passenger seat. After making sure his brother was safe, Scott went to the back of the truck and took a seat next to Naomi.

She pulled out the cell phone and started dialling her uncle's number. The dial tone faded to voice mail.

"This Dean Turner, please leave a message," Her uncle's voice said. The message tone beeped.

"Hey Uncle Dean, I'm on my way to the hospital. Mrs Tracy's having her baby. See you soon," She hung up after confirming her message. Then it started ringing. The caller ID said it was Jeff Tracy. Naomi answered it.

"Hi Mr Tracy," She said

"Hello Naomi, can you pass the phone to Scott?" Naomi handed the phone to Scott.

"Hey Dad,"

"Yeah we're headed to the hospital. John and Virgil are with me. I think the driver is letting Virgil play with the siren though,"

"Okay see you soon,"

Naomi, Scott, John and Virgil all sat with the medic Sam in the waiting room. The kids, all minors without a guardian or a parent, were bored out of their minds. It had been three hours since Lucy Tracy went into labour. Sensing the kid's boredom, Sam decided to talk to the kids.

"So what do you guys want to grow up to be?" He asked

"I'm going to enrol in the Air Force like Dad was. I'm going to fly a fighter jet and protect the country," Scott replied, flying his plane around.

"I'm going to grow up to be just like my uncle, a fed-er-al agent," Naomi sounded out the word she'd heard her uncle use so often "I'm going to stop crime and save the world!"

"I'm going to live in the stars," John told Sam "Like Dad did,"

"Piano!" Virgil exclaimed.

"He wants to learn how to play the piano like his mum," Naomi explained further "Mrs Tracy is teaching me to play and she herself is an amazing musician,"

"That's cool. I became a medic like my grandfather. He showed me basic first aid as a kid and since then I've been hooked," At that very moment two men burst through the doors.

"Dad!"

"Uncle Dean!" The kids rushed over to their parent or guardian and gave them a hug.

"You must be Jeff Tracy and Uncle Dean. I'm Sam Posey, I'm the medic that's been looking after the young squirts. Your kids have been a pleasure to look after. You should be proud of them. They want to be just like you when they grow up," Sam said, shaking the two male's hands.

"Thank you for looking after Naomi," Dean said

"And my boys. Do you know the status of my wife?"

"Unfortunely I don't," Sam replied "But your wife is in room 318 if you want to see her,"

"I'll stay with the kids Jeff, take them back to my place and bring them back in the morning," Dean said "Go be with Lucy," Jeff nodded as Sam lead the way to room 318. The Tracy brothers gathered their bags and left with Naomi and her uncle.

Sunday morning brought a surprise for Scott, John and Virgil. At 4:39am, their baby brother, Gordon Cooper, was born. Lucy was doing well and Jeff was a proud father.

"We'll be able to see them at nine o'clock," Dean explained to the kids "But in the meantime, go watch some cartoons," The kids rushed over to the couch and turned on the TV.

Jeff bent down so that even little Virgil could see the new baby.

"This is your brother Gordon," Jeff explained "And you three need to make sure you take care of him just like you take care of each other. You can't hold him just yet but in a few days your mum and I and Gordon will be home if Mr Turner wouldn't mind looking after you,"

"It will be fine Jeff. I could use some men on my team," Dean agreed with Jeff. When his nephew had been born (he was in New Zealand after missing Naomi's) he had taken care of Naomi for the short time that her parents were able to spent time with their new-born.

"Hey Squirt," Naomi whispered "You're going to be a real handful aren't you?" The baby's brown eyes opened to meet ice blue ones. One by one the Tracy's said hello and introduced themselves to their new brother before leaving the hospital with Mr Turner once more.


	7. Chapter 7

Ten year old Naomi Winchester ran out of class. All she could see was the car wreck that ended her family's lives and nearly her own. She was crying and scared out of her wits. Her best friend, Scott Tracy, rushed out after her. Naomi had been having these panic attack for a while now. Simple flashes of her past while playing a game of rugby, reading a book or doing homework had been showing quite frequently these days. Because they were so small, Naomi had only confided them to her partner in crime. But now Scott would have no choice but to tell the adults about them. Naomi was leaning against a wall. Her breathing was rapidly speeding up. Scott, not knowing what to do, placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her ice blue eyes.

"Naomi, what's happening?"

"It's July 14th all over again Scott," She managed to say "They're dead Scott! They're dead!"

"Okay then. I want you to describe my brothers and I,"

"Scott Carpenter Tracy. Born April 4th. Age 10. He had has well-kept black hair. His eyes are the colour of caramel. Takes after his dad," Her breathing slowed a fraction.

"And what about John. What can you tell me about John?"

"John Glenn Tracy. Birthday is October the 8th. Looks like his mum with shaggy blond hair which is in need of a cut and aqua blue eyes. Likes the stars and is currently 7 years old," Her breathing was still going fast "Virgil Grissom Tracy. August 15th. 5 years old. Dark brown hair and caramel eyes. Also looks like his dad and older brother," The breathing was almost under control

"And Gordon?"

"Gordon Copper Tracy. Also known as Squirt or Copper head when he's really annoying you boys. February 14th. Has red hair and brown eyes. He's been around for a year," With her breathing finally under control, Naomi slid down the wall.

"What set it off this time?" Scott asked

"When the window shattered,"

"Oh," It was all Scott could say "Naomi, you do realise that July 14th has been long over. Not only the original one four years ago but this year's July 14th as well. I seriously think that we have to tell your Uncle about this,"

"I know, but I just don't want him to worry about me more,"

"And if you don't you'll make me worry more. I have three younger brothers, I do not need any more stress," Naomi started laughing.

"Thanks Scott, I'll tell him tonight. If only to keep your blood sugars down," Unbeknownst to the pair of friends, there was a little bird lurking in the corridor who overheard the entire situation. Riley Joseph knew exactly how to hurt Naomi Winchester and Scott Tracy.

"Waitangi Day – 6th of February," Naomi answered.

"Very good Naomi," Her teacher said "Who can tell me what happened on July 14th?"

"Naomi's parents died," Riley blurted out. Of course Riley wasn't counting on Naomi punching him in the nose.

"I was going to do that!" Scott complained

"I can do it myself,"

"Naomi, Riley outside now please. You better come as well Scott," The three children left their seats and headed out the door "I want the rest of you to read about different important dates in your text book. Page 314," The teacher walked out of the room and told the three ten year olds to follow her.

Naomi, Scott and Riley sat in the principal's office.

"Miss Winchester please tell me what happened," Mr Armstrong asked.

"Well after our classroom window shattered this morning it brought back the memories of the car crash I was in with my parents," Naomi explained, absentmindly rubbing her hand along the visible scar "I had trouble breathing so I left the classroom. Scott followed and got my breathing under control. After break we were learning about different countries' national days. The car crash was on July 14th, the same day as Bastille Day in France. I don't know how Riley got the date of the accident because I've never told anyone but my uncle, my best friend and his family. So when Riley told the whole class that my parents had died that day, I punched him in the nose. No one deserves to have private information blurted out,"

"And why would you mind everyone knowing when your family died?"

"Because they don't need to know. Every year on that day I've seen Naomi cry and look at photos. Her uncle takes the day off from work because Naomi isn't the only person to lose a sibling in that crash," Scott spoke up. Naomi glared at him. Scott shrugged. He didn't mind getting in trouble for sticking up for his family.

"And how did you come across this piece of information Mr Joseph?" Mr Armstrong turned to the third student in the room.

"I overheard Naomi tell Scott about it in the corridor this morning. I was sent out of class earlier," Riley spat out "After the little freak recited her boyfriend's brothers," Scott punched him in the nose.

"Thanks Scott," Naomi said, fist bumping her best friend

"You're welcome,"

"My nose!" Riley exclaimed "I think you broke my nose!"

"So?" The best friends asked

"Riley you're to have a weeks' worth of in-school suspension and Naomi and Scott have two days of suspension starting tomorrow. No coming to school what so ever," Mr Armstrong said "We do not tolerate violence here. I'll be calling your parents and uncle to explain what has happened here," Mr Armstrong left the room.

"At least it's a Friday tomorrow," Scott whispered "We'll be having a four day weekend," Naomi smiled.

"Are your knuckles sore?" She asked

"I knew Riley had a hard head but not this hard," Scott replied, rubbing his knuckles with his hand.

Dean Turner walked into the Principal's Office with a frown. His niece had gotten in trouble for punching a guy in the nose. Scott had done the same thing and was on his way to collect them.

"Mr Turner…"

"Agent Turner, Mr Armstrong," Dean said "I'm with the FBI," Even off duty, a federal agent was to be shown respect. It got rather annoying when people forgot that.

"Of course Agent Turner, you're here to collect your niece. She is being sent home today because of an assault on a fellow student and will have a two day suspension starting tomorrow," Mr Armstrong told the man "We do not tolerate acts of violence anywhere at any time,"

"I know. I'm also here to pick up Scott, Jeff's in a meeting in Kansas City and Lucy's at home with her one year old," Dean told the principal.

"Of course Agent Turner. But before you can take them home, I must talk to you about Naomi," Dean took a seat "Scott and Naomi told me that Naomi was having trouble breathing earlier this morning after the classroom window got smashed. It was because, apparently, it brought back memories of the car crash. Do you know anything about this?"

"No but Lucy said she had thought that Naomi had a loss of breath when she was looking after her the other day,"

"Her file says that she's a mild asthmatic,"

"She takes her inhaler every night but she's never had anything serious. You said that it happened after she was reminded of the car accident right?" Mr Armstrong nodded "I'll take her to the doctor's tomorrow to get it checked out,"

"Be ready for the possibility that she might have anxiety that causes panic attacks Agent Turner. While she can take tablets for it, sometimes the easiest way to get over them is to go through an equally traumatic event or just grow out of it," Mr Armstrong advised the worried uncle "You can take them home now," Dean nodded

"Could you let Scott's brothers, John and Virgil, know? They'll be worried if he's missing,"

"Of course,"

"I am very disappointed. In both of you. Scott, you're supposed to be setting an example for your brothers. Especially Gordon. And Naomi, because someone insults you it doesn't mean you have a reason to punch them in the face,"

"Insulting me is a very good reason to punch someone in the face," Naomi replied "It did happen twice didn't it?" Dean laughed.

"Other than that, I'm very proud of you two. You broke the boy's nose with two blows. If you'll parents allow it Scott I'll be happy to teach you self-defence and take you to karate lessons if you want them,"

"I thought when someone got suspended from school, it was meant to be hell from the guardian," Naomi said "Instead you're offering to teach us how to defend ourselves and take us to karate lessons,"

"Oh you're on dishing washing duty for the next week. And you're not allowed to use the dishwasher to do your dirty work," Dean told his niece laughing "And Scott?"

"Yeah Mr Turner?"

"Your mum said to tell you that you're grounded," Scott's eyes widened. He was grounded!?

"How are your knuckles by the way?" Dean asked casually

"Sore,"


	8. Chapter 8

"Hello Mason," Dean said as he walked into work one March morning. His ten year old niece walked in after him. She looked around in amazement.

"Not like the movies is it?" Mason asked.

"No," Naomi agreed "But it's still awesome,"

"Take your kid to work day is it?" Mason asked Dean. Dean nodded

"Yeah. And mine just happens to want to work at the same place I do," He sighed "One visitors pass please,"

"Coming right up Agent Turner, name of visitor?"

"Naomi Winchester, 10 years old," Dean told Mason. Soon Naomi was wearing her visitor pass on a lanyard and walking through the doors.

"So what do you do Uncle Dean?" She asked

"Well my partner, Agent Roth, and I are given cases by our boss, Agent Jackson, which we have to solve. They're normally very violent crimes and may have very little leads to follow up. Many go on to be classed as unsolved and given to a different department,"

"You mean you can't help everyone?"

"No I can't help everyone. It's a good lesson for you to learn now. Even if you want to help everyone, sometimes you just can't. Try your hardest but let it go when your efforts are futile,"

"Mornin' Dean," A friendly female voice called out "And who's this?"

"Good Morning Julie. This is my niece Naomi Winchester. Its take your kid to work day and well she's been my kid since she was six. Naomi this is my partner. Agent Juliana Roth,"

"Please call me Julie, Naomi, but if you're within ear shot of our boss, you would do good to call me Agent Roth," Naomi nodded

"Nice to meet you Julie,"

"Turner! Roth! My office now," A voice yelled. Dean and Julie rolled their eyes.

"Come on garden gnome, let's go see what Agent Jackson has in store for us today,"

"It's Bring Your Kid to Work Day Chris! I have to take my kid to work!"

"This is very sensitive work Dean! I cannot and will not allow your niece to be present in the briefing!"

"I can keep a secret Agent Jackson sir," Naomi said quietly.

"This is no mere secret Naomi. This is top priority, only the people who need to know get to know,"

"Chris. She hid the fact that she was having panic attacks for…"

"Three months," Naomi supplied "That's after we, that's Scott and I, ended up in a river. Don't ask because I really do not know how we ended up there,"

"And I only found out because she broke a kid's nose back in September,"

"You broke someone's nose?" Julie asked.

"No. But I laid down the ground work for my friend Scott. He's the one who broke Riley's nose. We both got two days suspension for it," Naomi explained "And not only did I manage to keep that a secret. For four years I was able to keep the date of my parents' and brother's deaths secret from everyone at the school,"

"She knows the importance of keeping secrets Chris. Did I tell you what she wants to be once she leaves school?" Chris shook his head "She wants to become an agent," Chris sighs.

"Fine,"

"I win the bet with Scott Uncle Dean. He said I wouldn't be allowed to sit on a mission briefing," Naomi whispered to her uncle.

"Have you tried looking in the industrial area?" Naomi asked, sitting on her uncle's spiny chair "It's literally the dead centre," All the agents working on the child murders turned to look at the young girl.

"Show us what you mean Miss Winchester," Agent Jackson said, handing the girl a whiteboard marker. Naomi got up and started talking.

"This was the first murder here. If you play connect the dots with the murders you get four of the five points of a star," Naomi drew over the map "I think you should look in this area here," She pointed to what would be the middle of the star "And because it's mainly covered in the industrial area, there's a higher chance of the murderer and the next victim being in there. Start from the centre and work your way out," All the agents in the room took the reasoning to hand.

"I think you may be right Naomi," Julie said "Thanks,"

"Yes I know, I can't tell Scott that I figured out a pattern in a case which lead to catch of the murderer as well as the safety of a little boy," Naomi told her uncle as they walked out of the FBI building "As far as he, or anyone else, knows I helped you finish up some paper work and ran errands for the other agents like doughnuts and coffee,"

"Good idea. Your teacher won't be mad at me that way,"

Scott, John and Virgil got out of their dad's car.

"Welcome to Tracy Industries boys," Jeff Tracy announced as he unbuckled Gordon from his car seat. Lucy had wanted a day by herself so Jeff had agreed to take Gordon with him when his other sons came for Take Your Kids to Work Day.

"So what do you do dad?" Scott asked

"Well today I've got a board meeting so I'm sorry that you'll have to sit in that. Then I'll show you around the building. And if you want Annabeth will take you guys shopping in the afternoon. I really only have paperwork to do today," Jeff answered, placing Gordon in a pram.

"So how was a day working with your dad?" Naomi asked as she and Scott talked in their tree house.

"It was okay. We sat through a three hour board meeting. Gordy didn't cry so that was a good thing and then we went on a tour of the building. Some of the staff are really cool but others…"

"Don't you just love Riley's?"

"Yeah," Scott agreed "And then Miss Peterson took us shopping and we did some things in the city. How was the FBI?"

"Boring. I helped Uncle Dean with some paper work. Helped his partner Julie with some filing. And ran basic errands for the other agents like grabbing coffee and doughnuts,"

"That is boring. You still sure you want to join the FBI?"

"I'm ten Scott. The FBI wasn't going to let a ten year old girl do anything dangerous. They do a lot more than paper work and eat and drink,"

"If you say so,"

"Scott!" Mrs Tracy's voice called out "Dinner's ready!"

"See you tomorrow?"

"Of course,"


	9. Chapter 9

"How's Squirt?" Naomi asked Scott over the phone.

"He's a mixture of excitement and horror at the moment," Scott replied "He's excited to be an older brother and horrified at the fact that he won't be the youngest and won't be able to get away with the same level of innocence,"

"It's the red hair Scott. I know Virgil is a good kid and so are you and John. It's got to be the hair,"

"I can agree with you there… Gordon! Get back here!" Naomi could hear the three year old's contagious laughter.

"Put him on the phone Scott," Naomi said "I have an idea," There was a slight pause as the cell phone was passed from the oldest Tracy brother to the soon to be second youngest one.

"Hello Nomi!" Gordon's cheerful voice came through the

"Hey Squirt, I hear you've been naughty,"

"No I haven't! Scotty's lying," Gordon pouted

"Well that's not what I've heard. Now listen up Squirt. Your mum's going to be very tired after she has your little brother or sister and your dad's going to be doing his best to make sure both her and the baby are well and he's going to need your help. He's going to need you to be on your best behaviour. Scott and the others will also need your help. Scott's going to be busy with me as we get closer to our last days at elementary school. So John and Virgil will be picking a lot of his chores so they'll need you to put your best effort into yours and not give them any trouble. You got it?"

"Of course. I'll be the best little brother ever!" Gordon replied "Scott wants to talk to you again,"

"Hey Naomi, we've got a new baby brother!"

"Awesome!"

"But there's some complications so he'll be in the NICU for a few days,"

"Oh. Do you want Uncle Dean to come pick you guys up?"

"Dad said we're allowed to go see mum so we'll say hello then dad's going to take us home,"

"Okay,"

"By the way. What did you say to Gordon? He's sitting up perfectly and isn't wearing the smile that means he's going to be naughty,"

"I just told him how much his family needed him,"

"Oh. I almost forgot. His name is Alan Sheppard,"

"I'm so glad your mum won that battle. I would feel incredibly sorry for the kid if he was called Walter Schirra,"

"See you around?"

"Of course,"

"So what's the news on the latest addition to the Tracy Family?" Dean asked his niece as she put the phone back on its stand.

"Mrs Tracy has a baby boy called Alan Sheppard but because of some complications he's in the NICU so Scott and his brother's aren't allowed to see him yet,"

"Do they need a ride home?"

"Nah. They're going to say hello to Mrs Tracy before Mr Tracy brings them home for the night,"

"Okay then," Naomi sniffed the air.

"Is that chocolate cake I smell?"

"Yep. I was thinking cake, coffee for me, juice for you, the sofa, a couple blankets and Hercules,"

"Good idea Uncle Dean. Do you want me to get the DVD ready?"

"Of course,"

A week later Alan and Lucy Tracy were back home from the hospital. The doctors had decided that Alan could support himself but had told his mum that both she and her husband should keep an extra good eye on him. To keep the younger ones off the Tracy parents, Scott and Naomi devised a plan. Naomi's uncle had gotten the week off work and had agreed to their plan. They would go into the city, Uncle Dean would take Naomi and Gordon to the aquarium while Scott, John and Virgil would go to an art shop to by some art supplies for Virgil and then to the library.

"Look at this fishy Nomi!" Gordon exclaimed, pointing to a yellow and blue fish. Naomi took a picture of it.

"It's Flounder," Dean said

"Who's Flonder?" Gordon asked.

"Flounder," Naomi sounded out "A fishy character in the Disney movie The Little Mermaid," Gordon poked his tongue out. He didn't like Disney movies.

"There's the fifth stamp station," Dean said, pointing to a school of fish printed on a big piece of plastic. Gordon started running. Not wanting to lose the young red head in the sea of people, Naomi ran after him.

"I think you forgot something Squirt," She said, catching her breath. Naomi waved a piece of paper over Gordon's head. He tried to grab it but Naomi pulled it out of his reach.

"That not fair!"

"What's the magic word Gordo?"

"Please," Gordon whined. Naomi handed the paper over. Gordon placed it under the stamp. He reached for the lever. He couldn't reach it. He was too small. Naomi pulled the lever and then released it. On the paper was an orange clownfish.

"What dat?"

"What's that?" Naomi reminded the three year old

"Well Gordon it would be easier to explain if you came over here," Dean said. The two children followed the FBI agent to the glass tank. Seven orange and white clownfish darted between the coral.

"That's the fishy on my paper!"

"It's called a clownfish Gordon," Dean explained "Cute aren't they?"

"They remind me of Gordon. With his red hair and cheeky attitude, he would make a good clownfish," Naomi muttered

"They aren't cute Mr Turner. They're awesome. Take a picture Nomi! Take a picture!" Naomi laughed, doing what was demanded of her.

"You want Virgil to draw this for you?" She asked. Gordon nodded.

"Speaking of Virgil, we better go get him and your other brothers Gordon," Dean said.

Of course they got delayed when Gordon spotted a plush clownfish in the gift shop. Naomi checked her wallet and found she had just enough to buy the toy and four keychains. Gordon brought the fish up to the counter and Naomi the keychains. Naomi handed over the money to her cashier. They thanked the man and left the aquarium.

Virgil, John and Scott reunited with Dean, Gordon and Naomi 30 minutes later. Sitting in the Tracy van, Scott noticed the orange and white plush in Gordon's hand.

"He didn't steal that did he?" He whispered

"Of course not Scooter," Naomi replied "I brought it for him,"

"And you didn't buy anything for us?" Scott complained. Naomi raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really think I'd forget you, John and Virg?" She held out her hand to show the four keychains she had brought "The shark is for you. Because you're in charge here. The starfish for the star boy and I got Virgil a flounder. I decided to get the crab for baby Allie," She handed the brothers their keychains.

"He's only one week old and you've already given him a nickname and a present," Scott commented.

"I gave Gordon his nickname the day after he was born,"

"Speaking of Gordon. Gordy?" The three year old turned around to face his oldest brother.

"Yeah?"

"What are you going to call your fish?"

"Squirt!" Everyone started laughing.


	10. Chapter 10

It was a hot summer's day. Four year old Gordon was bored. His mum was looking after Alan. His father was at work. John and Virgil were at their friend's houses. That left his oldest brother, Scott, and said brother's best friend, Naomi. The two 13 year olds were sitting on the porch of his house eating ice blocks. All Gordon wanted to do was go for a swim. Hearing the laughter of Scott from outside he knew exactly what to do. He raced upstairs to his room which he shared with Alan. He got into his togs, grabbed his goggles and towel and raced outside.

"Hey Squirt," Naomi greeted him.

"Where do you think you're going mister?" Scott asked

"Swimming!" Gordon exclaimed.

"Is Mum and Alan with you?" Scott asked. Gordon shook his head.

"Can you look after me?"

"Sure Gordy," Scott smiled "This weather's killing me,"

"Agreed. I'll be back real soon," Naomi said. She got up and left the Tracy's front yard via the fence.

Soon Naomi, Scott and Gordon were sitting in the paddling pool. Three towels hung over clothes line. Water was splashing about and getting on the ground. Laughter could be heard at the end of the road.

"Stop it Squirt!" Naomi said, laughing as Gordon splashed her repeatedly. Gordon stopped.

"Why do you call me Squirt Nomi?"

"What's that Scott? I could have sworn I heard something," Gordon glared. Naomi had been pulling that trick for the past five months. It meant she wanted to called by her full name.

"Naomi? Why do you call me Squirt?"

"Well you see when you were born, the ambulance driver was looking after Scott, me and your other brothers while we waited for my uncle and your dad. When he first meet them he called us 'squirts' I guess I must have liked it so I started calling you that when I first met you. It soon became clear that it fit you. You always loved bath time but hated getting out. And then there was that one summer when you kept squirting me with your water gun all the time," Naomi explained.

"How did you get that scar Naomi?" Gordon asked as he came to sit next to Naomi and Scott on the porch after they had all dried off.

"Gordon…" Scott warned his little brother.

"It's okay Scott. Seriously."

"But what about your panic attacks?"

"I haven't had one in two months. I think I can handle telling Gordon what happened,"

"What's a panic attack?" Gordon asked.

"Well Gordon when my little brother was your age we were in a car crash…"

"You have a little brother? I haven't met him have I?"

"No you haven't meet my brother. Neither has Scott or any of your other brothers," Naomi answered "As I was saying. My brother and I were in a car crash with our parents. My parents died on the scene and my brother died shortly after from a broken neck. I could have just as easily died. A glass shard was lodged into my right arm. All I have is a scar from surgery. My parents and brother paid the ultimate price. Because in the wills of my parents it said that if anything was to happen to my parents and both I and Stephen or just Stephen were minors, we were to go to live with our uncle here in America. So I did just that. I moved in with my uncle and I've been living in the same house for the past seven years. Living next to my best friend and his family," Naomi rubbed her hand over the scar. While it had been bright red when she first obtained it, it was now a pale pink colour. Within years it would blend in with Naomi's skin tone and you'd only ever know she had one if she had told you or you felt it.

"Three years ago I started to have panic attacks. I guess it was because I never really talked about it. I still don't like talking about. If something reminded me, even little things, of my family or the crash or sometimes both I'd start finding it hard to breath. Scott devised a way to pull me back from the edge. I was to give him or anyone who was close by the full names of him and his brothers along with your ages and birthdays and a little bit about your appearances. It has always helped,"

"Tell him about Riley," Scott encouraged his best friend.

"Uncle Dean and your mum said we shouldn't tell Gordon,"

"Who's Riley?" Gordon asked

"Now you got the squirt intrigued,"

"What harm could it do?"

"Possibly a lot,"

"Who's Riley? Please tell me," Gordon begged. He gave his older brother and his neighbour the puppy dog eyes.

"Oh not the puppy dog eyes," Naomi complained

"Now we have to tell him,"

"Fine," Naomi sighed "You see Gordo, Scooter and I had decided to keep the panic attacks a secret for three months before we eventually had to spill the secret. So when we were ten our classroom window was broken by someone playing out on the field all I could see was the glass shard in my arm, the broken windows and window screen. I ran out of the classroom and Scott followed. I ran through Scott to you and got my breathing under control. I had a little break down. Unknown to both myself and Scott, our classmate Riley – who had been sent out of class earlier – was listening in,"

"During the next period of the day we were learning about different important national dates in other countries. Naomi here knew both the New Zealand and Australian national holidays plus…"

"ANZAC Day," Naomi supplied

"ANZAC Day." Scott said "But when our teacher asked what happened on July 14th, Riley blurted out that Naomi's parents had died,"

"So I punched him in the face. He then decided to insult in the principal's office,"

"So I decided to punch him. Broke his nose,"

"From that day on, Uncle Dean has been taking me and Scott to karate lessons and has been giving small self-defence class to us plus Virgil and John. You'll be able to join in with us once you turn eight,"

"Now promise you won't tell mum we told you that,"

"Otherwise we'll make your life hell,"

"Okay," Gordon agreed, storing away the fact that both Naomi and Scott didn't want this to get back to his mother. A silver car pulled into the Turner/Winchester household driveway.

"Well Uncle Dean's back from work. I should be going back," Naomi said, getting up from her position.

"Don't forget to use the gate," Scott said.

"Don't let the gate hit you once I've left," Naomi retorted. She frowned when she saw a second car pull into the drive way.

"You didn't tell me that you were having visitors today,"

"I didn't know we were having visitors today. I better go. Tell your mum I said bye," With that, the brown haired teen left the Tracy property.


	11. Chapter 11

Naomi was getting the hot chocolate ready. She had marshmallows ready and mugs as well. Her Uncle Dean was in the lounge with his girlfriend and FBI partner, Agent Juliana "Julie" Roth. She was happy that her uncle had found love after all these years. She was also very happy that it was Julie he had fallen in love with. She had known that there had been a spark between the two the day she had first meet the blond haired woman.

"Hurry up Naomi!" Uncle Dean yelled "A Very Supernatural Christmas is about to start!"

"Coming!" She finished filling up the three mugs with steamy hot chocolate before popping three marshmallows into each one. She carried two mugs into the lounge and gave them to the lovebirds before returning to the kitchen to grab her own. She grabbed her IPod and took a quick photo of the TV Screen, Julie and Uncle Dean. She sent the picture to her friend Scott who was in Switzerland for Christmas with the caption: Enjoying 'A Very Supernatural Christmas' with Julie, Uncle Dean and Hot Chocolate. Hope you and your family is having fun. She turned the IPod off and wrapped herself in the blanket.

Scott laughed as he saw the photo his best friend had just sent him. Ever since the year before, Naomi had become obsessed with the CW show 'Supernatural'. Of course she would force her family to watch the Christmas episode. So much had changed in the past two years. Naomi's uncle had started dating his partner from the FBI and more often than not there were two cars in the driveway in the afternoon and early morning. Gordon had started school and Alan wanted to go with him. John had joined himself and Naomi in the teenager club a couple months earlier. Naomi herself had changed in appearances. She now had pierced ears with simple blue studs and her left side fringe was now dyed a shade of purple. Her panic attacks happened very rarely. As sophomores, both 15 year olds had taken on a lot more responsibilities. Naomi had gotten a job in the local café and did some babysitting jobs. Scott joined her in the babysitting business while getting most of his income coming from his job at the local grocery shop. His parents also trusted him and Naomi with the care of Scott's little brothers more often. There was a knock at his door. His mum entered

"Hey Scottie," She said "Time to go to sleep. It's 10pm. You need your sleep if you're going to tackle the more advanced slopes tomorrow," Scott put his IPod down on the table and got into his bed.

"Night mum,"

"Good night my little angel,"

"I'm not little anymore mum,"

"You'll always be little to me," And with that Lucy Tracy closed the door to her oldest son's room for the last time.

It was 7am in Cimarron, Kansas. Naomi, Julie and Dean were listening to the early morning news while eating breakfast.

"We have breaking news. An avalanche has happened on the on the Swiss Alps," The newscaster spoke. Naomi frowned. Her stomach was suddenly feeling very empty as a sense of dread filled her.

"Hey Uncle Dean, turn up the telly please," Dean turned the volume up on the TV.

"Ten people have been badly injured and several people are still missing. It is not known who exactly missing but we'll be keeping you up to date as we get more information,"

"Isn't Scott's family in the Swiss Alps?" Julie asked. Naomi now knew why she had felt dread. Her best friend and his family could be missing, hurt or even worse: dead.

"I'm going to call Scott," Naomi whispered, getting up from her seat. She left her rice bubbles on the table. She took walked one step at a time before she started running two at time. She ran down to her room and picked up the cell phone she had gotten for her 15th birthday. She selected Scott's number and waited.

"This number is out of range. Please try again,"

"Damnit Scott!" Naomi yelled, hot tears falling down her checks. She opened up her emails on her IPod and flicked him an email. She then did the same with an Imessage.

"Come on Scott. Or John. Or Virgil. Or even little Alan and Gordon. I don't care who answers please just answer. I don't think I could handle this without you,"

"Hey, Naomi," Dean's soothing voice said out of the blue "Calm down. They might just be out of range of their devices. We don't know if they are part of the missing, hurt or dead. We just have to wait,"

"I don't want to wait! I need to know this now!" Dean pulled his niece into a comforting hug.

"Naomi you do know that both Julie and I will be there for you?" Naomi nodded

"But I need Scott,"

"I know, I know," Dean whispered.

"Where's your mother Scott?" Jeff Tracy asked, a worried expression etched on his face.

"She was swept away Dad!" Scott told his dad "She had Alan with her. I've just finished digging Gordon out. He managed to grab hold of the railing. How are John and Virgil?"

"John's arm is defiantly broken and will have to be set very soon. Virgil's just got a twisted ankle. How's Gordon?"

"Fine I think. Can you check on him for me? I want to go help the Snow Patrol and Search and Rescue find Mum and Alan,"

"I'll join you after I've fixed some hot chocolate for the others," Scott nodded and ran off.

John, Gordon and Virgil were nursing hot chocolate. While the younger two were holding their mugs, John's had a straw on account of his broken left arm. His right was holding it gently.

"I'm going to grab something from my room, do you guys want anything?" John asked. Virgil and Gordon nodded.

"Squirt please Johnny and Allie's blanket,"

"I just want my pad Johnny, I have a few pencils down here," John nodded and left.

"Is Allie and Mummy going to be okay Virgie? Where's Scotty? And Dad?" Gordon asked his immediate older brother.

"I'm sure Alan and Mum will be fine. Scott's helping to look for them with Dad," Virgil answered even though he wasn't sure of them himself. John soon returned and delivered their requests.

"Is that Scott's IPod?" Gordon asked "We're not allowed to go on it,"

"But look who wants to make contact with our brother," The younger two looked at the screen and saw the three email and seven Imessage alerts from Naomi Winchester.

"We have to answer her," Virgil said.

"Do we know Scott's password?" Gordon asked.

"I think I might. 0424 – His birthday and Naomi's," John said, putting in the passcode. IPod unlocked. The oldest blond Tracy opened up the Imessaging first. He started typing. _Hey Naomi. Virgil, Gordon and I are in the chalet we're staying in. Scott and Dad are helping the Snow Patrol and Snow and Rescue. Mum and Alan are unaccounted for. – John._ He copied the message into and email and sent both messages to his friend.

Naomi's IPod screen lit up. Dean noticed this.

"Hey Naomi, I think someone's answered," Naomi picked up the device and saw the alerts. Scott had replied to both the email and Imessage. She opened the Imessage up. She read the short paragraph.

"Everyone is safe but Mrs Tracy and Alan," Naomi told her uncle "Scott and Mr Tracy are out looking for them,"

"I told you that they'll be fine. They'll find Lucy and Alan real soon,"

"I hope so Uncle Dean," Mum, Dad and Stephen, if you're watching me, please, please help my friends and their family. They need it more than I do right now.

Scott could have sworn that he had seen a boy with brown hair and chocolate eyes who looked the same age as John standing where he had discovered his mother's glove in the snow. The glove lead to the body of Lucy Tracy and the almost dead Alan Tracy. Now he sat outside Alan's hospital room with John and his newly set arm in a cast, Virgil and Gordon and his toy clownfish, Squirt. Virgil pulled out a rectangular device from his pocket.

"Is that my IPod?" Scott asked.

"We had to contact Naomi," Virgil explained "She sent you over 10 messages in total,"

"Oh. That's fine. But how did you figure out my passcode?"

"It was a guess. Your birthday and Naomi's," John explained "You are really predictable,"

"Did you tell about…?"

"Alan? Yes we did. We've been sending her updates since I discovered the first lot," John explained. Virgil handed over the IPod.

"You might want to talk to her yourself," Scott nodded.

Over a week later, Naomi was wearing a black dress with blue and orange flowers to Lucille Cassandra Tracy's funeral. Her Uncle wore a tux along with her best friend and most of his brothers and father. John's red cast didn't allow him anything with longer sleeves. So he had a blanket wrapped around him to keep him warm. Alan hated wearing anything more than a jumper and wasn't going to let his father or oldest brother force a suit jacket on him. They were at the part of the ceremony where the people at the funeral placed flowers on the grave of the deceased. Dean Turner paid his respects. His niece followed suit. She let the small flowers fall onto Lucy's coffin.

"Thanks for being there for me Mrs Tracy when I needed a female figure. Thanks for having Scott and his brothers. I'll take care of them just like they did me when my parents died. I promise," Tears rolled down her check. She left and let the next person pay their own respects.

After the funeral, Scott, his brothers and Naomi on the front porch. Gordon sat on Naomi's lap. It had been a common sight now days. Naomi knew what he was going through better than his own brothers. Her own parents had died when she was Gordon's age. The normally very energetic group just sat there in silence.

"I brought a sharpie," Naomi said, pulling out the black marker from her marker "Mind if I draw some stars on your cast John," John shook his head. He held out the cast for Naomi. She gently took it in her hands and started to draw.

"The constellations I'm drawing is called The Southern Cross or Crux. It can only been seen the Southern Hemisphere so we can't see it. So when you're living space, get a picture of them for me please," She signed the drawing. John looked at it.

"Is that just the design on the New Zealand flag?"

"It is. The stars represent the location of my country in the south," She passed the marker to Gordon who decided to draw a very bad fish.

"Don't forget to sign it squirt,"

"Is it always hard?"

"What's always hard Scott?"

"Losing someone,"

"Yes. I can't sugar coat it. Some days it can be unbearable and other days it doesn't matter," Naomi told her best friend "You stood by me when no one else stood with me. You pulled me back from the edge after my family died and I promised your mum that I'd do the same. I'll keep pulling you guys and helping you whenever you need it," The two teenagers sat in silence.

"So how did you find your mum?"

"Do I have to talk about it?"

"I've found out that it's better to talk now while the wound is still open than to wait until you think that the wound is closed but healed," Scott sighed.

"I saw a boy about John's age. He had brown hair and eyes. He was standing over the place when mum and Alan were buried,"

"Stephen," Naomi muttered "Thank you,"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Carry on with your story,"

Needless to say, Dean and Julie found two teens sleeping on the couch with the TV still on in the morning.


	12. Chapter 12

After the death of his wife, Jeff Tracy had thrown himself into his work. More often than not he was gone by the time Scott was up and didn't come back until very late. Because of this Scott was the one to get his brothers ready for school and take them there. His best friend helped when she could by giving him the answers to homework, driving the Tracy five to school when they were late and babysitting when Scott took some of his brothers out. Scott, not wanting to cheat, did most of his homework during the night and often fell asleep at his desk. Naomi noticed this and so did her uncle who tried to look after the younger Tracy's as much as possible so that Scott fall behind in school. But it was John's 14th birthday that changed the whole direction of things…

"John!" Scott yelled over the noise of the Terrible Two "Go and wake up Virgil for me. We can't be late again," John didn't move. He was too engrossed in his book. He had barely eaten his breakfast.

"Hey Scottie! Look at me!" Alan said, running between his oldest brother's legs.

"Alan! Stop what you're doing! We need to get you dressed Sprout," Scott scolded.

"I've got Virgil Scooter," A calm female voice said "You go get the Squirt and Sprout ready. John!" The oldest blond haired, blue eyed Tracy looked up

"Hey Naomi,"

"Happy birthday, now finish your breakfast and get your school stuff ready. We're leaving in 20 mins," The brown haired teenager left the room and started climbing the stairs.

"It's October 8th?" Scott asked. John nodded.

"I'm sorry Johnny for forgetting your birthday,"

"I thought you might. You forgot Naomi and Virgil's as well. You probably would have forgotten Alan and Gordon's if it wasn't for the fact that they were yelling that it was their birthday," John whispered. He finished his breakfast.

"Wake up Virgil!" Naomi yelled in the middle Tracy's ear. A startled Virgil shot up from his bed.

"Naomi!"

"Go have breakfast. Say happy birthday to John. Get ready for school and don't forget to do your hair and brush your hair. We're leaving very soon,"

"Why are you here Naomi? You're never here this early,"

"I'm here because I've let this go for long enough,"

"Okay, here's the plan for this afternoon. You'll be going on the bus tonight, wait for Scott he'll be signing you out today. I've got some errands to run this afternoon. Virgil and Gordon you'll going to do the dishes and Alan you're going to help Scott with the laundry. Once you've finished that do your homework and leave Scott to do his. I'm cooking tonight so that gives Scott the time he needs for it," Naomi explained as they all sat in the Tracy Van, waiting at the traffic light.

"That's not fair! John doesn't have a chore!" Gordon complained.

"It's his birthday Squirt. He gets the day off from doing chores but that does not mean he doesn't have to do his homework. Also if Uncle Dean asks where I am and I'm not back yet just tell him I'm out," The light turned green and Naomi went.

"See ya tonight Sprout," She said as Scott and Alan got out of the van. They were at Alan's preschool and Alan was happy.

"Bye Nomi!" Alan said.

"Why are you doing this?" Scott asked

"Like I told Virgil. I've let this go too far. Also, Uncle Dean has booked you for some driving lessons tomorrow. Don't scratch my car,"

"Thank you,"

"No problem. Just keeping my promise," She pulled into the student parking lot of the high school.

"Thanks for the ride Naomi," John said, unbuckling himself from the seat belt. He opened the door.

"Here's a little something me and Toby came up with last night. You might want to read through it during homeroom," Naomi thrusted three pages into Scott's hand "It's a summary of what we've done in classes,"

"Thanks again,"

"Now come one, we don't want to be late again,"

It was lunch time. Naomi spotted John sitting by himself in the cafeteria. She walked over to him and placed her lunch tray on the table.

"Go away Scott," John mumbled, not looking up from his book.

"Well if I was Scott I wouldn't leave," Naomi said "What's the birthday boy doing here by himself?"

"I just want to be left alone,"

"No. No you don't. If you wanted to be alone, you wouldn't be reading the book Scott got you for your birthday last year," Naomi said "It's your way of screaming for help," John snorted.

"And what makes you think that?" He asked, closing the book.

"Because that's what I do. Do you remember how when I was eight I was always reading an Enid Blyton book?" John nodded "Well Enid Blyton was my mum's favourite author when she was my age. She had all the Famous Five, Secret Seven, The Secret series and the Adventure series books and many more. I guess I wanted someone to notice that I was reading my dead mother's books so that they'd force me to talk about it. No one did and look at me now. I have anxiety issues. I may have not had a panic attack in over a year but I'm still viable to them,"

"So you're a shrink now?"

"Oh hell no. Mine noticed what I was doing with the books when I was eleven," John laughed a little.

"People teased me for my cast when we went back to school. They thought that Gordon's drawing of a fish was stupid. They tried more than once to cover over your and Virgil's drawings,"

"John. Gordon's drawing was bad, not stupid. And they're just jealous that you know not one but two amazing artists. They're jealous that they don't have four awesome brothers and me as a friend. I know it's hard to get over your mother's death. But you've got Scott, who's trying to be both a high school student and a father figure and an older brother at the same time. He needs your help with the Terrible Two. Virgil's emotions are going to be hard to get under control when he's a teenager so he'll need both his older brothers to help him get through. Gordon and Alan need John Glenn Tracy. I notice how they both come to you when they want some quiet time. It does not matter what your classmates think," Naomi comforted the second born son "I need you to keep an eye on Scott because he'll over work himself," John smiled a little.

"Is that Naomi sitting with John?" Toby asked, pointing to a table in the corner of the cafeteria. Sure enough, there sat a tall girl with brown hair and a boy with blond hair.

"Yeah," Scott replied, mulling over his options "Hey Toby, I'm going to go sit with them today. It's John's birthday today,"

"Okay, sure. Catch you in science,"

Scott slid into the seat across from John and Naomi.

"Did I really forget Virgil and your birthdays?" John and Naomi nodded.

"Then why did Virgil hugged me for the new pencils he got?" Naomi rubbed her hand along her scar.

"Hey don't look at me Scotty," John said, laughing "I think you should ask Naomi that,"

"Naomi?"

"I took $40 from your wallet. $20 for me and $20 for Virg. I brought him the pencils and wrapped them and put them under your name, not mine. I use the $20 for a book five days ago,"

"So that's where my money went. I thought Gordon had taken it,"

"And don't think I'm paying you back,"

"What do you want Scott? A junior like you doesn't sit with an 8th grader like me,"

"I'm sitting with you,"

"And you had a reason,"

"A very important reason,"

"Because John, I've forgotten one little brother's birthday as well as my best friend's. I've let that happen once too often and it stops today," Scott told the second born brother "Plus what better reason is there if a big brother wants to sit with his little one on their birthday?" the trio ate in silence.

"Isn't that the book I got you last year?" John nodded

"Hey do you think you could get this book for me. I want to give it to John for his birthday?" Scott asked, handing over a sheet of paper "I mean since you're going into town this afternoon," Naomi took the paper and smiled

"Do you have the money?" Scott handed over a $20 bill.

Scott had managed to finish his homework before 2am for a change. He was happy. Whatever Naomi had it mind to bring is family back from the edge was working. And Day One wasn't even over yet.

"Hey boys!" His friend's voice came through the door "What's a girl to do to get a little help?" Everyone got up, leaving finished (in John and Scott's case) or unfinished (in Virgil's case) homework on the table. Gordon and Alan left the toys they were playing with. All raced out the front door. Naomi started unloading shopping bags from the Tracy Van.

"What did you buy Naomi?" Virgil asked as she handed him two bags.

"Well I noticed this morning that you guys were low on food and cooking supplies so I brought yours and my own weekly shopping. Mind if I keep the milk and ice cream and the other chilled stuff in your fridge?" She gave Alan a small, light bag.

"Grocery shopping doesn't take that long though," John said "So what else were you doing?"

"Running some errands for Uncle Dean, making sure I knew what days I'm rostered on this week at the café, did a little shopping and picked up a few things along the way," John looked suspicious. He took two bags from Naomi's hands and left.

"What would we do without you Naomi?" Scott asked

"Same thing I would have done without you. Crash and Burn. Also Toby says you owe him big time," Like his brothers he took two bags and left.

"Did you get it Naomi?" Gordon asked taking the one bag of Tracy food left.

"Of course Squirt. I ordered it through the book store three weeks ago. It came in yesterday," Naomi put three bags labelled Winchester on the ground and locked the car "Now let's join your brothers,"

Five Tracy's, One Turner and One Winchester sat around the table. Naomi had made a birthday feast for John. There were her homemade Bacon and Egg pies, sausage rolls, and little sausages along with juice for Gordon and Alan, soda for everyone from Virgil to Scott and a coffee for Dean. But first John got to open up the presents he had received. There was two science fiction books from Scott and Naomi. Virgil had drawn his a nebula while Gordon had decided to go big getting him an atlas of stars. Alan's though had to be John's favourite. Not only had he gotten John a space shuttle, Alan had drawn a picture of his family. Lucy Tracy, Dean Turner and Naomi Winchester were present. His teacher had gotten it laminated for him after he had told her he wanted to give it to his brother for his birthday.

"You said you had forgotten my birthday… Is this your doing Naomi?"

"No. Scott payed for it. He willingly gave the money up," Naomi replied "Amazing what a little talking can do,"

"Shouldn't Dad be here?" Virgil asked out of the blue.

"He's probably just running a bit late," Scott lied to his brother "You know what traffic is like Virg. It's unpredictable,"

"That I agree with," Dean said "What is normally a 21 minute drive took me two hours today because there was a motor accident," And with that the food started to be devoured.

Dean had brought John a copy of his favourite Sci Fi movie – Lost in Space. Everyone was watching it. Well Scott, John, Naomi and Dean were awake, Virgil was struggling to keep his eyes open while Gordon and Alan were dead to the world when Jeff came home that night. He had gotten the messages that Naomi and Scott had left him during the afternoon and he endeavoured to be home by 7pm. But as luck would have it, the meeting had gone over time. And the other party was only offering their deal that day. Tomorrow would be too late. When he came into the house he saw the left over pie, cake and sausage roll. He looked into the lounge and saw his sons watching the movie with Naomi and Dean. He weakly smiled. It seemed that Scott, Naomi and Dean were all that was keeping his family together. Scott turned around to see his father. He whispered something to Naomi who nodded. He got up and came over to his father.

"We need to talk Dad. Outside,"

Naomi, John and Dean heard the barely audible shouting match between the father and the oldest brother. John was worried; He didn't like it when anyone yelled. He defiantly didn't like it when it happened on his birthday. Naomi and Dean ignored it. Whatever Jeff was getting from Scott was what he deserved. The conversation needed to happen. And it didn't need them to be present.


	13. Chapter 13

"John, wake up Virgil. I don't care how you do. Just wake him up," Scott ordered "Gordon you can't wear your pyjamas to school and Sprout finish your breakfast. We don't want to be late," John left the kitchen to wake up Virgil and Gordon to get change. Alan just glared at his oldest brother before finishing his breakfast.

"Don't call me Sprout, I'm five now," He complained.

"Whatever,"

"Wake up Virgil!" Scott heard his immediate younger brother yell.

"Leave me alone John!" Virgil's angry voice. Scott laughed. He could get used to someone else being yelled at by Virgil.

"Is this good enough Scott?" Gordon asked wearing a bright yellow t-shirt and board shorts. Scott sighed. There wasn't enough time for his brother to get changed again.

"Yep, go…" Scott's words were stopped by the home phone ringing. Scott grabbed it.

"Scott Tracy speaking,"

"Morning Scott," His dad's voice came from the other end "How are you?"

"Good thanks Dad." Scott smiled "Virgil has just woken up. Gordon and Alan are dressed and everyone but Virg has had breakfast. And Naomi hasn't come around yet so it's a good sign,"

"Is that Dad?" Alan asked.

"Hey Dad, here's Alan. The Sprout wants to talk to you," Alan glared as Scott handed him the phone.

"Hi Dad," The five year old excitedly said "I'm going to big kids school like Gordy and Virgie!" The front door opened. Scott's best friend came through the door.

"Morning Scooter,"

"Same to you Gnomes," Virgil came running into the kitchen. Scott handed him a plate with two pieces of toast.

"Morning Dad!" Virgil yelled.

"Dad's on the phone?" Gordon asked walking on the room

"Gordon!" John's exasperated yell came from outside "Where did you hide my astronomy text book?" Gordon's cheeky smile appeared.

"Gordon…" The two seniors said, glaring at the eight year old.

"What?"

"Where did you hide John's book?" Naomi asked "I'll pay you $5 if you go get it for me," Gordon ran off.

"$5?" Scott asked "Really?"

"Of course. I gave him $4 last year,"

"Okay Dad, see you tonight!" Alan's cheerful voice ended the call between himself and his father. He gave the phone to Naomi.

"Thanks Sprout," She said, putting the phone back on the stand.

"Don't call me Sprout!" Alan pouted "I'm going to school with Gordon and Virgil today!"

"And Gordon is still called Squirt,"

At the call of his nickname, Gordon came back to the kitchen, holding John's book. Naomi handed the prankster a $5 bill.

"John, we've found it! Hurry up or we'll be late," John came down the stairs carry both his bag and Virgil's. Virgil placed his plate in the dishwasher and turned it on. John dropped Virgil's bag on the ground and retrieved the text book from Naomi.

"Okay. Alan and Gordon's bags are already in the car. John and Virgil have theirs," Scott said, mentally checking things off his list.

"I have yours,"

"Who's driving?"

"You are,"

"Okay into the van everyone," With that the Tracy family left for the first day of school.

"This is our last year of high school, can you believe it?" Toby McMillian asked his two friend "We're finally seniors. We all have our driver's license. And then there's these cool class rings,"

"Nope," Naomi said "I can't believe it. To think of it this way. If I was in New Zealand, I would only ½ a year of schooling left if I had decided to do year 13. Here I still have a whole year. But I agree, these rings are cool,"

"Ditto to that," Scott told Toby and Naomi "And don't forget they've put us it charge of planning the senior prank this year,"

"Still don't know how we got that. Naomi's a Fed-in-training, you fly straighter than a plane and I have, as you both have said hundreds of times, no sense of humour,"

"I have Gordon and Alan as inspiration,"

"I know places to get supplies and you our friend have the skill to make it happen,"

"True that,"

"Hey freak," Riley Joseph yelled out "Still miss your family? Still recite your boyfriend's family?"

"Hey Joseph. Remember how you got that broken nose eight years ago? I do. And this time I think it'll only take one punch to break it again. I've had eight years of karate lessons," Naomi retorted. And with that, the bully went into hiding.

"Still can't believe he hasn't been expelled yet," Scott muttered.

"Still have no clue about what you two are talking about," Toby said. Toby hadn't been there for what the class of 2015 had dubbed 'The Double Punch accident'; he had only joined the group when they were freshmen. Toby had only heard rumours. He knew it had something to do with Naomi and Scott and Naomi's panic attacks.

"You'll hear about it at senior dinner," Naomi said "It's got to be one of the most memorable moments in our schooling years,"

"You guys are supposed to be my friends,"

"And as your friend, I advise we go to our homeroom," Scott said as the bell rang "See you guys later,"

"I have an idea for our prank," Naomi told her two friends "But it comes in two parts,"

"What is it?" Toby asked "I thought Scott was the person coming up with the plan,"

"Well I was thinking that we do a "Prank" within the next few weeks on the sophomore class that fails pretty badly. It only has to be a simple one. This lulls the junior class as well as the rest of the school into a false sense of security. They'll think that we've pulled our prank for the year and that they won't have to worry about the seniors pulling a prank,"

"But we do a really complicated prank later in the year to the junior class and catch them unawares," Scott finished "That's really good,"

"That's amazing. Have a box of smarties," Toby threw the candy to the brown haired, ice blue eyed girl. She caught it.

"Your homeroom teacher gave you smarties!?" She exclaimed "Lucky!"

"I can't eat them. Braces remember? So glad that I'll be able to get them off before going to college,"

"Speaking of which," Scott said "Where are you guys planning on going to?"

"Denver obviously. I'm going for a scholarship. I doubt my family will have the money to send me there without losing electricity and other things," Toby said.

"Dude, if you don't get the scholarship, I'm sure that the Lucy Tracy education trust could help you and your folks with that," Scott assured the 17 year old "Or if you get a job with Tracy Enterprises you could easily get backing. Dad's like that. Always willing to give his employees a chance,"

"And if the scouts don't pick you for the scholarship, they're stupid. We'll record the making of our major prank to make sure you have proof of how awesome you are with mechanics,"

"So what about you? Any ideas Naomi?"

"Stanford," Scott and Toby busted out laughing

"Are you wanting to go there because Sam Winchester did or are you deadly serious about going there?"

"I'm deadly serious. They have a good law program and they do criminal justice there was well which is a requirement for my job choice. Plus Quantico after I've finished the degrees. I'll only need a half scholarship if I don't have enough money. My café work plus babysitting plus the money I've finally got access to should be enough to cover costs. How about you Scott?"

"Yale or maybe even Oxford. Air Force for me please," The three friends laughed. The bell went and they drifted off to class,"

"Naomi Winchester, here to pick up Alan Tracy," Naomi told Alan's teacher.

"Relationship to student?"

"Well for one I'm his next door neighbour. Secondly I've babysat him more times than I can count. Thirdly his older brother is my best friend,"

"Naomi!" Alan said "Is Scotty here?"

"Heya Sprout," Naomi said "Scott's getting Gordon and John's getting Virg,"

"Just sign here please Miss Winchester," Naomi signed it "Will you be here often?"

"Maybe. Mostly it will Scott or John or sometimes Mr Tracy signing Alan out. But Scott and I like to car pool 75% of the time so I'll be able to sign him out if need be,"

"Okay then, have a good day Alan. See you tomorrow,"

"See ya Miss Rowell," Once they were out of ear shot of the teacher Alan yelled.

"Don't call me Sprout!"

"Allie, we've been calling you that since you were a kid. You're stuck with it. As much as I am with Garden Gnome, Nomi and Gnomes and Gordon with Squirt,"

"I know. But I'm a big kid now,"

"You'll always be the baby in our eyes. If it makes you feel better I'll only call you Sprout when your family and Uncle Dean are around," Alan nodded.

"Hurry up slow pokes," Virgil called out "I want to get home,"


	14. Chapter 14

The fake prank had gone off without a hitch. The entire Class of 2015 had agreed to Naomi's plan and said they were going to help in any way possible. John's sophomore class had been the victims of the fake prank. John had been the only one who had gotten covered in flour. Scott had to drive home to get his brother a change of clothes. John hadn't spoken to the two seniors for two weeks because he knew that they along with Toby were the cause of the prank. This defiantly lulled the entire school into a sense of security. The junior class was the most laid back. The normal choices for prank victims were the junior class or the staff and facility. Not the sophomore class. Some of the seniors had approached the trio of pranksters to tell them how complacent the juniors were getting. That meant it was time to activate part two of the prank. The principal had given the keys to the school to Scott on Friday. That meant they had two days to set everything up. Naomi and her Uncle Dean had brought most of the materials needed for the device that Toby with the help of a couple of the metal and wood work lads and girls. The barker's daughter got a couple bags of flour. The Hackers got permission to turn on the sprinklers remotely. The kids of farmers all managed to bring in at least three used buckets making a grand total over 100 buckets to use. The senior year book pictures were to be taken to the same day as the senior pranks. The juniors wouldn't know what hit them.

"This is team 3, all juniors in positions," Alice Stevens told Naomi, Scott and Toby over their air pieces. The other three classes had already been settled. The teachers were told to bring an extra set of clothes to school in case they got caught up in the prank.

"Hackers, sprinklers on three. The flour will start on the count of two after the water has start. One two three!" Naomi whispered. Screams of juniors filled the hallways.

"One. Two." Naomi, Alice, Toby and Scott pressed the buttons which would activate the contraptions that would pour flour over them. The video that Toby, Scott and Naomi had filmed started rolling.

"Hello Juniors!" Naomi greeted "I'm sure you're wondering what happened,"

"You just got senior pranked," Toby explained.

"But wait didn't we prank my sophomore brother's class back in October?"

"That was a fake prank Scott,"

"Yeah, we lulled them into thinking they were safe from us,"

"But of course you juniors were never really safe," Scott said

"Now if you're thinking of coming after us seniors by pulling a prank of our own. Just remember there's no such thing as junior prank," Toby said

"Hope you enjoyed the little surprise. Sorry to any teachers that got in the cross fire. There's spare clothes for all you juniors in the office. The rest of the school by now will have been alerted to this and will be laughing at you guys if you do decided to go to the office," Scott told the juniors

"Laters,"

"Oh man did you see the looks the juniors were giving us at lunch?" Toby asked as the trio of seniors entered the Tracy house along with the rest of the Tracy clan.

"That was brilliant," Gordon said "Mind if I steal your idea?"

"Gordon, with you around, we'll never be lulled into a false sense of security," Naomi told the nine year old

"They are so coming after my class next year though," John complained "Thanks for that,"

"It was pretty cool," Virgil agreed, smiling.

"Why do you guys get all the fun?" Alan said.

"Because next year, most of us leave for college meaning we have to be adults," Scott explained.

"I see that the prank went well," Jeff Tracy said.

"Dad! You're home early," Scott exclaimed

"Meeting got cancelled. Now do you and your friends want some food and these letters?" Jeff said, laughing at his son's face. In his hand was three white envelopes.

"Yes please!" The two 17 year olds and the 18 year old said. Jeff handed the envelopes over to the seniors and a freshly made muffins. Scott took the tray up to his room and his friends followed.

Each envelope had text writing. Each envelope was addressed to the recipient by their full name.

"I'll go first," Naomi said, opening her letter. She pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it.

"Dear Miss Naomi Winchester," Naomi read out loud "We are proud to inform you that you have been accepted into Stanford University!"

"I'm going now," Toby exclaimed, grabbing his letter. He ripped his open.

"Dear Mr Toby McMillian. We are proud to inform you that you have been selected as the winner of the Scholarship to the Denver School of Advance Technology,"

"You won!" Naomi yelled

"I won!"

"You won!" Scott agreed "My turn," He picked up the last letter on the floor of his bedroom. He opened it up. Would it be like his best friends? Or would it be a letter saying that they were sorry to inform him that Yale wasn't excepting him.

"Dear Mr Scott Tracy. You have accepted into Yale University!"

"We did! We all did it!" Naomi yelled.

"You two have your first choice and I have a full ride to Denver!" Toby shouted.

"I can't believe it!"

"We've got to tell your parents Toby!" Naomi exclaimed "We can go now,"

"Yeah, let's go," Scott agreed. The trio held onto their letters and ran down the stairs.

"Dad we're going to Toby's!" Scott said.

"Congratulations!" Nine voices called out. The teenagers stopped and looked at the banner over the door way. It read: Congratulations Naomi, Toby and Scott! Jeff, Dean and Toby's parents embraced their kids.

"I'm so proud of you Naomi. Your parents and brother would have been so proud," Dean told Naomi. Naomi had tears of joy rolling down her face. She then spotted a tall female standing to a shorter man and a boy with brown hair and eyes who looked John's age. Her parents and brother. They were here too. And they were every bit as proud as Uncle Dean

"We knew you would do it Toby," Mr McMillian told his son

"We never doubted it for a second. We are so proud of you," Toby's mum said.

"Thank you for everything Mum and Dad,"

"Hey! What about me?" Toby's little sister, Nina said

"Love you too sis,"

"Your mother would have been proud of you son. I'm proud of you. Your brothers are proud of you. You've done so much for them and for me and you've finally gotten something for you self," Jeff told his son.

"Way to go to Scotty!" Gordon and Alan chorused.

"I knew you could do it," John said

"Congratulations Scott," Virgil told his big brother "You deserve it," Scott pulled his family in a hug.

 _"I'm very proud of you my little angel. Your father and brothers are right. You deserve this and they mean it and so do I,"_ Mum, Scott thought.

The three families enjoyed the company of each other as the trio of friends celebrated their achievements. It was a good way to overcome all the sadness that had happened in the past few years. Scott and Naomi were happy for the distraction and Toby was overwhelmed with joy. The three seniors wanted to make this day last.


	15. Chapter 15

"Welcome to our senior graduation at Cimarron High School. I, on behalf of all our senior students and staff, would like to thank you the parents and care givers for supporting your children through this year. We are very proud of our graduates with many choosing to go into higher education. But that's enough from me until we give out the diplomas. I would like to invite the student spokeswoman chosen by the Class of 2015, Naomi Winchester," Mr Munro, the principal of Cimarron High School spoke to the gathered families. There was a round of applause as a tall girl with medium length brown hair and ice blue eyes came up onto the stage.

Naomi took a breath. Take your time. Don't speed like a freight train, they'll won't understand you. You can do this.

"Good afternoon. My name, like Mr Munro said, is Naomi Winchester and I have been chosen by my peers to give the Class of 2015 graduation speech. I came to live here in Cimarron, Kansas with my Uncle Dean after my parents and little brother were killed in a car crash. I was six at the time. Many people change when this sort of thing happens. I changed in appearance. I have a scar running from my elbow up to my shoulder from the surgery to remove the glass shard which got lodge into my arm. And I could have easily changed in my personality as well. Thankfully I made a friend in Scott Tracy almost two months after the crash. My uncle and Mr Tracy don't realise that both Scott and I overheard this toast that they and the late Mrs Tracy made at a barbeque. It seemed that our friendship was equally beneficial. Scott had wanted a little sister and I need a friend who would be able to pull me back from an edge I didn't realise that I was close to falling off. The words they said were 'To the sister Scott always wanted and the friend Naomi needed' and looking back, they were right. I needed that friend and Scott and I are more than best friends. We're siblings in everything but blood. You'd be surprised at how many times we've been confused for siblings. So whoever voted us for the cutest couple in the year book, I'm sorry but Scott and I have never seen each other in that way and probably never will," People laughed "So this is my message to my friends and my family, my classmates and their family and the other students at Cimarron High School. No matter what happens next, remember that you will change. And sometimes change isn't a bad thing. Sometimes a change of scenery is all we need. So don't be afraid to change for the better. I hope to see you guys on the TV or to work with those who want to go into Government jobs like sheriffs, DA's office workers, Federal Agents or Lawyers defending the innocent and keeping them safe," Scott walked up on staged holding the Class of 2015's gift to the school. "It is my pleasure as well to unveil the Class of 2015's gift to the school. My peers have decided to present the school with a trophy for the Senior Student who have changed over their time here at CHS and has displayed the school's values all the time. They have also decided to call it the Winchester Family trophy because many of the students have been in the education system with me and know my story. So whoever decided that, thank you for immortalising my family with a trophy that means a lot to myself and my uncle," Scott removed the cover of the trophy. The audience clapped.

"My final words are this. Regression to the mean. It means that if you have a lot of good or bad things happen to you, the universe will find a way to bring you back to a point where life is just right. Enjoy your summer and congratulations to everyone who is going to college and to those not going to college just yet. Don't be afraid, there a lot of opportunities out there. Take them and push yourself to do your best. Thank you,"

"Hey we made the music page," Naomi said, looking through her copy of the 2015 year book. She pointed to the picture of herself, Scott and John at the talent show. The three of them had performed an acoustic version of R5's Loud and ended up winning. Naomi had sung and kept the beat while Scott played the guitar and John, the keyboard. Scott laughed.

"And you were nominated as Class Leader," Naomi laughed "I was given the title of Most likely to get a Medal of Honour,"

"Why would anyone think that?" She flipped the page "Hey here's the piece on the senior prank," Scott turned the page.

"This year's Senior Prank was conducted by Toby McMillian, Scott Tracy and Naomi Winchester. Unlike previous years' pranks, this one was put into two parts. Naomi came up with the idea to lull the school into a false sense of security by pranking Scott's sophomore brother's class which failed completely, only covering John Tracy with water and flour. The "prank" was pulled in October. This was exactly how they wanted it to be. For the next four months, Toby McMillian and other metal and wood students came up with a contraption that would pour flour over the unsuspecting juniors. Farm kids brought in buckets and Alice Stevens brought two bags of flour from her father's bakery which would account for one 1/3 of the prank. Another 1/3 was the Computer Labbers being able to access the school's sprinkler system to turn the sprinklers on in the four Junior Homerooms. The final third was a short video featuring the masterminds behind the prank which was showed after the prank had concluded. It was a walk of shame for every junior as they walked to the office to get some clean and dry clothing," Scott read out loud "Teachers have said that this has been one of the best in the past ten years of Senior Pranks. Thank you to the wonderful masterminds behind this year's prank, you are surely an inspiration for future seniors,"

"Well that was a sappy ending,"

"Yep,"

"Want to read our yearbook quotes?"

"Yes! I've been waiting all year for this,"

"Scott Tracy – Here's to the sister I always wanted and to the friend that was there for me when I need it,"

"Naomi Winchester – Boy, family don't end in blood and it sure as hell doesn't end there. (Bobby Singer, _Supernatural_ )"


	16. Chapter 16

"Our last day in Cimarron, Kansas," Scott whispered. The two eighteen year olds sat on the hood on Naomi's car as they watched the sunset

"I know," Naomi replied "Soon we'll be going our separate ways. You'll be going to the east coast and I'll be going to the west coast,"

"What are you going to miss the most?"

"Waking up knowing that all I need to do to talk to my best friend is to yell something out the window. Knowing that no matter what happens I'll be heading over to your house for comfort or support. You?"

"Waking up to four little brothers," Naomi laughed "And knowing that my best friend is no longer just across the fence but it would take me 46 hours to get to her,"

"Just saying it out loud is scary,"

"You're the only who told us that change is good,"

"I know. Doesn't make it easy to accept though,"

"You mean you don't practice what you preach,"

"I do so! I'm still a virgin unlike a certain person who lost theirs at 17 with a cheerleader under the bleachers,"

"You know,"

"I know and I could just as easily let it slip to your dad or your brothers,"

"You wouldn't,"

"I would,"

"Blackmailing me on our last day before heading off to college. That's rude,"

"No, it's not. It's a promise. A promise that you'd better keep if you don't want your family to find out,"

"Would you two just kiss already?" Toby said, laughing. Naomi and Scott moved over so that Toby could join them.

"Like I said back in May, I have never thought of him that way and I hopefully never will," Naomi punched her friend in the elbow.

"Well you two fight like a couple. Literally if your double punch is anything to go by," Toby said "So did you guys bring the things?"

"Yep,"

"Of course,"

"Who's going to go first?" Toby asked

"I will," Scott said, bringing out three black bags. He handed one to Toby and one to Naomi. They opened their gifts. Each pulled out a small silver disk.

"Never give up," Toby read out loud.

"Live your dream," Naomi said.

"Always push forward," Scott said, bringing out his own disk "I brought these because you guys need a little motivational quote," Naomi pulled out three black bracelets with a little green stone hanging off them. She handed one to Toby

"These stones are pounamu or New Zealand Greenstone. Yours means strong Toby and Scott's means brave. Mine stands for loyal," Naomi explained. She slipped her own bracelet over her right wrist and pulled the strings tight. The two boys did the same.

"Unlike you two, mine are handmade from some cans that I've been collecting," Toby said "I fashioned them into rings and engraved three things about you," He opened his palm to relieve three silver rings. He handed one to each of his friends.

"Loyal, kind and caring for Naomi and Brave, steadfast and fair for Scott. I'll need your help for mine though,"

"Smart," Scott instantly said

"Awesome," Naomi spoke up

"And friendly," The two friends summed up. Toby laughed.

"So you guys are leaving tomorrow huh?"

"Yeah," Scott said "Got to look for a job,"

"I have to check into my housing by Wednesday if I want the room I want. Plus Uncle Dean is practically pushing me out of the door. Apparently my cousins are doing a stopover in LA so he wants me to go see them," Naomi replied "You've still got another week though. Lucky you,"

"Depends on how you define lucky,"

"I define it being able to finally have a house that I don't have to share with my brothers and make sure that they have everything ready for school,"

"I define it as being able to spend time with your family because who knows how many times you'll be able to see them once you leave," Toby laughed.

"You two are so predictable. Don't change that much while you're away please," He asked "Last day selfie?" He pulled out his phone and took a selfie of the three 18 year olds on the hood a car 'I'll send it to you guys later," The three just sat in silence for a while.

It was 5am in Cimarron, Kansas. Two cars with trailers on the back were parked outside the two houses belonging to Jeff Tracy and Dean Turner. Anyone who knew anything knew that the oldest Tracy and the Winchester girl were heading off to college. There was a crowd of people outside the gates.

"Do you have to go?" Alan asked

"Well Sprout," Naomi replied "If I want to be a Fed like my uncle, I need a degree before I start training so the sooner I get it, the sooner I can start,"

"Will you be gone long?" Gordon asked

"I'll be back for thanksgiving," Scott promised

"Not too sure at this point about thanksgiving but I'll be home for Christmas,"

"Isn't that a Christmas Carol?" Virgil pointed out.

"I think it is,"

"Well if you two want to arrive at your destinations on time you better go now before the traffic gets thick," Jeff said, pulling his oldest into a hug. Dean did the same with his niece.

"Be safe Naomi. Have fun. And don't forget, you've got a reservation at a restaurant with your cousins," He whispered.

"Of course you had to make a reservation,"

"They're your cousins Naomi whom, may I add, haven't seen you since you were five,"

"I won't miss it. But remind me anyway,"

"I'll see you at Thanksgiving Scott but feel free to come back anytime,"

"I hopefully will. Are you going to be home more often?"

"I will be. I'm keeping my promise. I will be there for your brothers and you. So call me if you need help or advice,"

"There's no doubt about that dad,"

Jeff Tracy and Dean Turner watched as the two cars went their separate ways. Both had tears of joy coming down their face.

"If only Ruth, Maurice and Stephen could see this," Dean said "This should have been their moment not mine,"

"I'm sure they're watching somewhere. But tell me Dean, would you have set anyone off to college after rising them?"

"No, I wouldn't,"

"Well this is your sending-my-kid-off-to-college-moment just as much as it would have been your sister's and her family's," Jeff told Dean.

"Thanks Jeff,"

"No problem Dean,"


	17. Chapter 17

**WARNING - Implied Drunken Sex in this chapter. Feel free to skip ahead. Know your limit, don't drive drunk and if you're planning on going out to a party, bar or other place which sells alcohol - have a sober person to drive you home or stay a night at the place of the party or book into a nearby motel/hotel.**

It had been five years since Naomi and Scott had left Cimarron to go to their respective colleges. In that time John had graduated from both the local High School and then Harvard. Scott had graduated from Yale two years earlier and had joined the Air Force while Naomi had graduated from Stanford the next year and had started training to be a FBI Agent. Virgil had started his final year of High School and hoped to get into the Denver School of Advance Technology. Alan had started his final year at the elementary school while Gordon was in his freshman year. So much had changed in those five years. Naomi, normally very proud of her scar, had started covering it with shirt sleeves that went over her elbow. Scott has hardly ever home and found it hard to get in contact with his family and friends. John was about to go up to space to live for three years. But somethings hadn't changed. Naomi and Scott had decided years ago that when John turned 21, they would take him out for his first drink. Jeff and Dean had taken the duo for theirs, so it was only fit that they took the next Tracy who turned 21 out. Once Virgil turned 21, it would John's duty to take him out for his. In turn Virgil would take Gordon and Gordon, Alan. John was patiently waiting outside a Florida pub and motel where the three adults had chosen to stay the weekend. Even though none of them planned to get drunk, it would be better if they had a place to stay close by. Naomi was insistent on the fact. Two taxis pulled up alongside the curb and two 23 year olds get out.

"Evening Airman Basic," The female says "Or is it just Airman now?"

"Hello Cadet," The male says, laughing. They both grab their duffel bags and the taxis go off

"Hey space man," they call out to the blond haired, blue eyed 21 year old.

"Hi Scott, Naomi," John says as they pull into the hug "Go get yourselves checked in,"

After putting their bags into the rooms they had book, Scott and Naomi joined John down in the bar.

"So what are you guys starting me off with?" John asked

"Oh, we're waiting 'til about 8pm to start drinking," Naomi said

"Gives us time to talk. Which all of us haven't done in a long time,"

"We talked last weekend on the phone,"

"In person and without the Squirt and Sprout annoying us. Or Virg," Naomi clarified "We barely have three minutes with each when we're all home,"

"So how's the space program going? Excited for going into space?" Scott asked

"It's going good. And I'm very excited. I get to spend three years up in the stars. Researching and writing and all that. Maybe I'll even find a new star. So how's the FBI treating you Naomi?"

"Very good. Just had my yearly psychic evaluation. Got to make sure I'm in the right mind set for the job still. And that I'm in for the right reason as well. You'd be surprised at how many people join to get justice for their family. Justice for mine was served a long time ago. And I'm currently on top for my marksmanship. And what's the Air Force like?"

"Strict," John and Naomi laughed "But it's good. I get to fly occasionally but most of the time we're stuck doing ground work which is kinda boring but very important,"

"Shall we get some food?" John asked "I'm hungry," He was about to get up from his chair when Naomi and Scott forced him down.

"You're not going anywhere Birthday Boy," Scott said "Nothing is coming out of your wallet but your ID,"

"Scott's buying the drinks later so dinner is on me. Pizza?"

"Yes please,"

"Hawaiian for John and Meat lovers for Scott?" The two oldest Tracy brothers agreed and Naomi walked off.

"Don't forget to get me that picture of the Southern Cross for me Johnny," Naomi said as she finished off her last piece of pizza "I will never forgive you if you don't,"

"I will get you that picture, if only to have Scott talking to me,"

"I wouldn't stop talking to you!" Naomi and John raised an eyebrow

"Okay I probably would," Scott agreed "I'm sorry little brother,"

"I'd do the same big brother. Naomi can legally carry a gun,"

"And on that note, who's up for the first round of beers?" Scott said.

"You know it,"

"I'm ready,"

"You look so purrfect," John slurred. His beer bottle has was half empty.

"Wow. I always thought John would be a lightweight but half a bottle!?" Naomi exclaimed "That's worse than having only one bottle,"

"And how many can you handle,"

"I never have more than three. Don't want to push it. I drink to celebrate and to have fun with my friends not to get drunk and tipsy," Scott smiled understanding exactly where his friend was coming from.

"Me too Naomi. More out of fear of what I could do and the consequences than your reason," He said. Cheering came from the men and women gathered at the bar, watching the basketball. The waitress came over and placed three bottles of beer on the table.

"On the house," She explained "The Heat have won the match. Bar policy – free drinks for occupants if The Heat win," She smiled and walked off.

"Well if you only have three beers at the most, it saves me some cash," Scott said, taking on off the bottles. Naomi did the same. They clinked bottles and swallowed. Naomi blinked a couple times.

"Is the room spinning to you?" She asked, tilting her head "Because it's spinning for me," Scott let out a girlish giggle.

"You're pretty," John slurred again "Want to go to my room?"

"Go on you two lovebirds," Scott said, pushing his drunk brother and best friend off their chairs and towards the motel rooms.

Naomi woke up, her head throbbing. She rolled over in the bed to come across a sleeping John. Naomi quickly rolled over and looked at the floor. Sure enough her clothes were scattered across the room. She took a look at the sleeping Tracy. Did she? Did they?

"John," She said, urgently "Wake up,"

"Five more minutes Scotty, it's the weekend," He mumbled.

"John, its Naomi. Get up," John shot up. He saw the long brown haired girl lying

"Naomi! What are you doing in my room!? Let alone my bed!?"

"Well I was hoping to talk to you about that. Put some clothes on and leave. Let me get dressed,"

A few minutes later, John and Naomi were walking into Naomi's room. She opened up her bag and brought out a tablet. She poured herself a glass of water and swallowed the pill along with some water.

"I was really hoping to wait 'til Marriage to do what we did last night," She muttered "Thank your lucky stars that my roommate at college always got drunk at parties and ended up having sex with someone. I always kept some ECPs in my bag,"

"What did happen last night? I don't remember much after Scott brought back the beers," John asked.

"I think that Scott and I got drunk like you did, you're a lightweight by the way, and somehow me and you ended up doing the deed,"

"You mean…"

"Yeah,"

"You won't tell Scott,"

"Of course not. Do you know how awkward that convocation would be? Plus I now have blackmail over two Tracy brothers," Naomi promised "Don't forget that photo or I will tell Scott about what just happened,"

"Okay. So how many drinks did you and Scott end up having for you guys to get that drunk? You guys are Air Force and FBI, isn't there a limit or something?"

"I only had the one plus a sip of the second," Naomi replied "I only ever have three drinks tops. You know how I feel about being drunk," John nodded "I knew we shouldn't have come here. I've heard rumours that Florida has been a big part in a drug a drink case,"

"Want to forget about this so that we don't feel awkward and go and wake Scott?" John asked

"Yes to the whole forgetting thing but no to the waking up Scott part. That guy's a monster when he's hungover. What we can do though is have breakfast as two friends who didn't screw each other last night,"

"Let's go," John said. The two friends left Naomi's room and walked down to the restaurant to grab some breakfast.


	18. Chapter 18

"Tracy, Virgil," Mr Munro called out the middle Tracy's name. The brown haired boy walked up onto the stage and received his diploma. Cheering came from Virgil's friends and family. Naomi and Scott had come back to Cimarron while Naomi's uncle also was present. Together his family had rigged a live stream of the graduation for John who was currently up in space.

"You getting this John?" Naomi asked.

"Loud and clear Naomi," He replies "Tell Virg that I send my congratulations, I've got to go now,"

"See ya John," The Tracy family said before the link was stopped.

"I did it," Virgil said as he, Scott and Naomi walked through the school grounds.

"You did it," Naomi agreed

"We always knew you could,"

"I've finished high school, I've been accepted into the college I wanted and I'm happy," Virgil said

"Well that's good Virg," Scott said "But I still don't see why you want to go into mechanics and engineering,"

"Yeah, you could easily be an artist or a musician or both,"

"Well I asked Dad a question a few years ago when I first had to decided what I wanted to do subject wise and he told me that a good job is something you've worked hard on. Art and Music come naturally for me so I don't have to work as hard as I would have if I was doing law. Then I see you guys and John and what you're doing. Naomi loves music and reading and writing but yet she's decided that learning law and training to be an FBI agent is the way to go for her. And John's had to work hard to get on that mission to space," Virgil explained "And do I even need to mention what you're doing next month?" Naomi and Scott laughed "I guess the saying 'without hard work, nothing grows but weeds' is exactly right for me. I need to do hard work in order for me to grow,"

"That's very wise. I like it,"

"When I get my own booth I'm going to put that on the wall to remind me about that,"

"So when are you guys going back?" Virgil asked "Surely you can't be away this long,"

"Well I've got to leave tomorrow afternoon to be back on time," Scott said

"I have until the end of the week but I'll be back before you know it," Naomi replied "Oh I almost forgot to tell you, John says congratulations probably on graduating and getting into Denver," Virgil laughed.

"Speaking of John, he sent me the picture you ordered a few weeks ago. He must have forgotten your email address or something," Scott said "I tried to send it to you but apparently your email doesn't exist anymore,"

"Oh, a couple of the people I'm training with decided to prank me by temporally shutting down my account. I guess any emails I got during that time never actually got resent again," Naomi said, laughing.

"Isn't that against the law?" Virgil asked

"Well it is under normal circumstances but they were practicing stopping the flow of something using the emails of other trainees. I volunteered my email but I guess one of them decided to keep it up longer than usual," Naomi explained "No big deal. Just send it again," The trio stopped outside Virgil's car.

"Who's driving?" Naomi asked "I'm famished and I need some food,"

"My car, I'm driving," Virgil proclaimed "Scott's going to shout us food and you're buying the drinks,"

"Soda and Water of course," Naomi agreed, opening the passenger door.

"I'm game," Scott agreed.

That night Scott and Naomi sat on the porch of Dean Turner's house.

"18 years Scott," Naomi muttered "It's been almost 18 years since I first moved here and we became friends,"

"And what a roller-coaster those years have been,"

"You got two more little brothers,"

"You became a legend at the schools,"

"You barely managed to keep yourself afloat after your mum died,"

"You pulled me back from an edge that I was about to fall off,"

"You're in the Air Force, you have your first major mission next month and well you're having the time of your life,"

"You did four years of college studying law and criminal justice before putting yourself through 2 years of vigorous training to become an FBI Agent and you still have got another year of it," The two friends sat in silence, enjoying the fresh night air.

"Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if my parents had lived,"

"Well whatever would have happened you would be doing what you felt was the right thing to do," Scott comforted his best friend "Your parents would be proud of you no matter what happens,"

"You two want some hot chocolate?" Dean asked as he saw his niece and her best friend on the porch.

"Yes please," The egger reply came.

Soon they were sipping away at hot chocolates.

"Virgil got hot though,"

"Did you just say what I think I heard you say?" Scott asked.

"If you heard me say that Virgil got hot then yes I did say that but otherwise no,"

"You're weird,"

"You're weirder,"


	19. Author's Notes

Instead of writing a disclaimer every chapter, I've (obviously) decided to wait until now to do so. The Thunderbirds (Jeff, Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan) all belong to Silvia and Gerry Anderson. The song 'Loud' by R5 obviously belongs to the band R5. Cimarron, Kansas is an actual town and Cimarron Elementary and Cimarron High School actually exist but Mr Munro, Mr Armstrong and Miss Chard plus all of the students and other teachers at these school in my story belong to me along with Naomi Winchester, Dean Turner, Toby McMillian, Agent Chris Jackson and Agent Julie Roth and Naomi's family. These characters (bar Toby and Agent Jackson) are all based on myself and my family. Though Julie Roth is based somewhat loosely based on my Aunt Trish while the others are basically my family.

The annual check-up Stephen had to attend is for his Marfans which my mother and little brother have. It effects the skeletal and muscular systems. It can lead to heart conditions like high blood pressure and others conditions. Because of this my brother can't play contact sports like soccer and rugby. It's a very real thing and I just wish to make people more aware of it.

I don't live in America (Like Naomi, I'm a New Zealander) meaning I know very little about the country and its education system. I have done research on both Cimarron, Kansas and the education system but if there are any mistakes please tell me. I enjoy having feedback. The education system in NZ is pretty easy to follow but I'm sure that if an American tried writing about our school system, they'd come across the same problem.

I also know very little about anxiety and panic attacks. The little that I do know actually just come from watching Teen Wolf. I'm sorry if I get anything wrong. Again, please point these mistakes out to me and I love some feedback.

The dates, if you're wondering, are 26th January for Australia Day (Aussie Aussie Aussie!), 6th of February is Waitangi Day in New Zealand (basically our version of 4th of July) and ANZAC Day is April 25th. ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps. It's celebrated on April 25th which is the day in 1915 that troops from NZ and Australia landed at Gallipoli. This is a failed campaign mainly because somewhere along the chain of command an order got mixed up and they landed in bay further away from their actual destination.

The quote 'Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds' is an actual quote said by Gordon B. Hinckley. Naomi's yearbook quote is also a very real quote while Scott's is not. I made his one up.


End file.
